Something Hidden
by HibiscusAngel15
Summary: Tobey just can't shake the feeling that Becky is WordGirl, no matter how many times he's been wrong before. The only question is of how to prove it.
1. The Secret Identity Dilemma

**A/N: Hey there! I'm not exactly new to the WordGirl fandom, but I am new to writing for it. This is, in fact, my first fic for this fandom. **

**Anyway, this entire fic idea was inspired by my little sister with her vivid imagination and unlimited excitability. She's the one who got me into WordGirl in the first place. This entire fic is dedicated to her. **

**Disclaimer: WordGirl isn't mine, sadly.**

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><p><strong>Chapter One:<strong>

**The Secret Identity Dilemma**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**expose**_** and **_**infatuate**_**)**

"It's a peaceful afternoon in our city," the Narrator announced in his usual way. "Hey, it's a little _too_ peaceful if you ask me. Where are all the villains?"

The Narrator turned the page of his script. "Oh! Ahem, here it is! …They're all at a villains' convention?! Huh…how…convenient…. What are we going to do about this episode then?!" he wondered incredulously.

He flipped the page again. "Oh…. Heh heh. It says Tobey couldn't go because he's still grounded for that whole 'Win a Day with WordGirl' incident…. Maybe I'll just keep reading the script instead of asking pointless questions…."

The Narrator cleared his throat and began again, "At Tobey's bedroom lair…."

Theodore McCallister the Third paced his room, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and hands behind his back. He muttered under his breath, not noticing the Narrator was in his room. "Um…Tobey?" he wondered, startling the boy genius.

Tobey glared at his ceiling and grumbled, "What? What do you want? I am in the middle of devising an evil plot!"

"Seriously? Again?"

"What do you mean 'seriously'? I am _quite_ serious about my evil plots!" he snapped, adjusting his glasses.

"I think you might be too infatuated with the idea of winning to realize how they never work," the Narrator muttered.

Tobey scowled. "They do work…occasionally." He shook his head and pointed at the ceiling. "Anyway, this plan _will_ work! I _will_ expose WordGirl's secret identity! Then she'll _have_ to get ice-cream with me! If she doesn't, then she'll force me to tell all the villains, her family, and her friends who she really is!" He cackled in delight at his plan.

"It sounds to me that you're just infatuated with WordGirl…."

Tobey's face turned pink. "I am _not_ infatuated with WordGirl!" he growled, stomping his foot and clenching his hands into fists.

"Then why is there a WordGirl doll on your bed?" the Narrator asked slyly.

Tobey's face became bright red as he rushed over to his bed, quickly picking up the doll. "This?! It's just here for…practicing clever comebacks!" he exclaimed then glared at the WordGirl plush. "Prepare to be destroyed, WordGirl! Your…cute expressions and your…sparkling eyes have no effect on me! Take this!"

He threw the stuffed plush for emphasis. It landed next to him with a squeak. Tobey put his hands on his hips and said triumphantly, "See?"

"Huh…I still think you're infatuated with her," he teased.

The boy genius frowned and shouted, "Will you get out of here, you aggravating voice?"

"Well, fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted." The Narrator stomped away, though the camera still focused on Tobey.

He looked side-to-side then hastily scooped up the WordGirl doll. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry! I won't ever do that again!" he whispered as he hugged it to his chest.

Tobey pulled it away to look at it then frowned when he stared into its button eyes. "Don't look at me like that! I still think you're the cutest superheroine ever!" The doll continued to smile silently. He hugged it again and muttered, "You just can't stop being adorable, can you? When I expose your secret identity, we'll have ice-cream every day and then you'll be mine!"

He sighed contently then put the doll back on his bed. "And now…." He pointed in the air dramatically. "To expose WordGirl once and for all!"

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><p>"Later, at the Botsford home…" the Narrator said, switching scenes quickly. "Becky Botsford is watching another episode of her favorite show, <em>The Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour<em>."

Becky sat at the edge of her seat, her hands clasped together as she stared wide-eyed at the screen. The Pretty Princess had thrown a masquerade ball to celebrate her birthday party, and everyone in the land had been invited. Everyone, that is, except for the wicked Count Cloudy, who, angered that he was ignored, decided to go there in disguise.

Pretty Princess, recognizing everyone at the party save for him, ordered him to take off his mask. When he refused, she strolled over and reached toward him with a dainty hand to remove it.

"Will Pretty Princess expose the masked man's true identity? Find out after this commercial break!" a voice interrupted as a picture of the masked Count Cloudy was shown on the screen.

Becky frowned and yelled in frustration, "Oh man! Pretty Princess was just about to expose the masked man as Count Cloudy!"

Her monkey-sidekick, Bob, turned his head and squeaked in confusion. Becky, being the only person who understood him, glanced at him and replied, "Oh, well, _expose_ means to reveal or to make something known. Like just earlier, Pretty Princess was going to _expose_ Count Cloudy by taking off his mask."

Bob smiled and nodded with a grateful squeak. Just then, the doorbell rang. Becky sat up straight and shouted eagerly, "I'll get it!"

She shot up from her chair and hurried to the door. She unlocked it and swung it open, her eyes widening when she saw who it was. "Tobey?" she wondered with distaste. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Said boy genius chuckled and answered, "Why, hello there, Becky. Or should I say, _WordGirl_!" He had a rather large grin stretched across his face and it both irritated and frightened her.

Becky scowled and said, "Look, we've been through this, what, twice? And how many of those times did WordGirl defeat your robots?"

Tobey furrowed his eyebrows and muttered, "Well, twice, but that's not the point! The point is I'm here to expose you once and for all!"

"Pfft, good luck with _that_. I'll humor you; what's your 'proof' this time?" she wondered with a smirk, quoting proof with her fingers.

He glared at her and demanded, pointing at her, "Don't you mock me! I have solid proof this time!"

"Really?" Becky asked doubtfully. "What?"

Tobey crossed his arms. "You're the only person in town with a pet monkey," he replied seriously.

The plucky superheroine raised an eyebrow. "That's it? That's all ya got?" Bob snickered behind her.

He blinked at her lack of reaction then stuttered, his cheeks becoming pink, "N-No! I also have this!" He stuffed his hand in his pocket and brought out a tape recorder. Tobey smiled evilly then pressed the PLAY button.

"_…What a pleasant surprise!_" Tobey's voice sounded from the tape.

"_You and your devoted robots _really_ outsmarted me this time!_" a familiar voice commended.

"Is that…WordGirl?" Becky wondered, tilting her head, just as Tobey paused the recording.

"Why yes. How very perceptive of you!" he complimented sarcastically. "I wonder how you could tell so quickly…."

Becky paused, realizing what he was getting at. "Oh, well, it's because…I talk to WordGirl _a lot_. Yeah, we chat almost every day after she patrols the city."

Tobey raised an eyebrow. "Hm, yes, I'm sure you do…" he muttered. He cleared his throat and pressed FORWARD on his recorder. "Now _this_ is a recording of _you_ from last week, when you kept boasting to me about how smart you are," he added, sounding annoyed.

The boy genius stopped the tape then clicked the PLAY button. "Ha! You _really_ think you can outsmart me this time, Tobey? Good luck," her voice challenged from the tape, followed by her laughter. Her eye twitched when she heard herself snort. She hated when she did that.

Tobey paused the tape. "Do you find it strange that you two sound an _awful_ lot alike? You even have the same adorable laugh!" he shouted while pointing at her.

Becky clenched her hands into fists. "We do no–Wait, did you just say my laugh is _adorable_?"

He blinked and recovered hastily, "No, I didn't. I said, uh, deplorable! Yes, your laugh is completely deplorable!"

Becky frowned. "Hey, that's not very nice!"

Tobey smiled. "Well, I'm not a very nice person, in case you hadn't noticed. I am an evil boy genius bent on the destruction of this city and world domination! And I'll crush _anyone_ who gets in my way! Including you, WordGirl!"

She sighed in disgust. "Look, for the last time, I'm not WordGirl! If I was, I'm pretty sure my family and friends would've figured _that_ out by now! I'm terrible at keeping secrets!" she exclaimed, waving dismissively at him.

"Spout whatever lies you want! But unless I see with my own two eyes that you and WordGirl are not the same person, I will not stop until I prove I'm right!" the boy genius yelled, waving a finger in the air.

"If the fact that you think Bob is Captain Huggyface and that WordGirl and I sound alike is all you have, then maybe you should just go home, Tobey," she advised, starting to close her front door. Bob waved goodbye to him, smiling brightly.

Tobey slammed his hand against it, stopping it from closing. "Hm, trying to get rid of me? This makes you look even more suspicious, Becky," he noted with narrowed eyes.

Becky put her hands on her hips. "I'm trying to get rid of you because you keep accusing me of being WordGirl!" she yelled, exasperated with all of this. "You claimed you had solid proof, but all you have are silly speculations."

Tobey smiled, leaning forward with his hands behind his back. "Oooh, _speculations_, hm? Nice choice of words. Further evidence that you are indeed WordGi—"

"Just because my vocabulary happens to be widely-ranged doesn't mean anything! I'm just smart," Becky stated, examining her nails.

Tobey raised an eyebrow, clearly doubting her. "Not smarter than _this_ boy genius, let me assure you. I highly doubt _you_ understand even the blueprints of a giant robut!"

She crossed her arms and questioned, not even attempting to hide her sarcasm, "Why do you even go to elementary school still if you're _so intelligent_?"

He blushed and grumbled, "Because my mother wants me to be around people my age, even if I keep telling her that everyone at my school is an imbecile." He blinked and straightened immediately. "Don't change the subject!"

Becky leaned against her doorpost. "Not my fault you got distracted. Besides, even if I _was_ WordGirl, which I'm not, how would you expose what she's managed to keep hidden for years?"

"Like this." Tobey pushed her aside to storm into her house. He looked around and spotted the stairs, which he proceeded to stroll to.

Becky stumbled backward then found her balance again. She turned to glare at him and shouted in irritation, "Tobey! You can't just barge into my house like that!"

He paused climbing the steps and looked back at her. "Oh, can't I?" he wondered then chuckled to himself. He then continued up the stairs while humming what sounded like the _WordGirl_ theme song.

"Ugh! Bob, there isn't anything in my room that can connect me to being WordGirl, right?" she whispered to her monkey-sidekick.

Bob tapped a finger to his chin and thought hard. After a few seconds, he shrugged, squeaking something that might've been an "I don't know".

She frowned then stood up straight, steeling her resolve to get Tobey out of her house. "You think Emergency Plan Number Forty-Seven will work on him again?" she suggested, smirking.

The monkey furrowed his eyebrows and threw his hands into the air with a squeak of protest, shaking his head from side-to-side. He did _not_ want to dress up as WordGirl and feel ridiculous again. Becky sighed. "I thought you wouldn't be up for it…. Fine! Then we'll have to figure out another way to get him to leave!"

She glanced at the stairs with determination. "Okay, c'mon, Bob!"

"What dull ornaments," Tobey commented, picking up one of Becky's prized ceramic unicorns and staring at it. He set it down and looked at her bookcase. "Although, I must say, she has good taste in books. _The Princess Triana _series, _Romeo and Juliet_…. Hm, what's this one?" he wondered aloud as he raised an eyebrow.

It was a worn-out green book, the golden title chipped away so he couldn't make heads or tails of what it could be. It seemed to be the oldest among all the books there. Carefully, he slipped it off the shelf and began to examine its contents.

"Tobey! Get out of my room! You have no right to be here!" Becky shouted furiously. Bob stood next to her, glaring at Tobey with his arms crossed. He nodded at what Becky said and let out a demanding squeak.

The boy genius flinched and the book dropped from his hands. Becky looked at the fallen book and gasped, "My Perfect Learners' Dictionary!" She rushed to one of her favorite dictionaries with a distressed expression. Tobey stared intently, a smile growing on his face.

"Hm, you seem to care an _awful lot_ about dictionaries, Becky," Tobey commented aloud, taking note of her looking over her book to make sure it wasn't damaged and her carefully placing it back on her shelf.

"Well, of _course_ I do! I mean, it's one of the first dictionaries I've ever read!" she replied, forgetting herself despite Bob's frantic waving. She paused then slapped a hand to her head. "Oh…."

Tobey chuckled at this, shaking his head. "Becky, Becky, Becky." He spoke as if she were much smaller than she really was. "When are you going to admit that _you're _WordGirl? Enough games. I've exposed you!"

The plucky superheroine began to sweat and scanned the room anxiously to find something to distract him. She couldn't find anything, so she blurted out, "Well…why don't you send a few of your robots out into the city and see for yourself that I am _not _WordGirl, only a regular girl who's infatuated with words." She glanced at Bob to secretly tell him to get TJ's _WordGirl _action figure again, but she noticed he looked puzzled.

Just then, the monkey squeaked twice and she knew he had no idea what infatuated meant. "Oh, to be _infatuated_ means to be completely carried away by a strong love or affection. Like how I'm _infatuated_ with words or how Tobey is _infatuated_ with WordGirl."

Tobey's eyes widened and his face became hot. "What? N-No, I'm not!" He laughed nervously as he pulled at his collar. "D-Don't be silly! I'm not infatuated with that overrated, not-as-smart-as-me superhero!"

"Yes, you are," the Narrator cut in.

Tobey glared at the ceiling and yelled, "No, I'm not! And nobody asked you!"

"It's sort of cute when you keep denying it," the Narrator teased, making the boy genius blush even more.

He stomped his foot and yelled in indignation, "Cute?! I, Theodore McCallister the Third, am _not_ cute, and I most certainly am _not_ infatuated with WordGirl!"

Becky and Bob had been giggling as they watched the little argument, which Tobey only began to notice. "What are you two laughing at? I demand you stop at once!"

"Well…it's just…so funny…the way you keep…denying it…" she managed to breathe out between laughs.

Tobey scowled at this and decided he'd had enough of people mocking him. He snatched one of Becky's prized unicorns off her shelf, stomped to her open window, and dangled it outside.

Becky gasped and immediately stopped laughing. She straightened up and screamed, "What are you doing?!"

The boy genius smirked at her reaction and questioned smoothly, "Well, what does it look like, WordGirl?"

Becky paid no attention to the fact that she was referred to as her alter ego and cried out, "Angelface has been broken several times already! Please just give him back to me!"

Tobey smirked, sensing that he was going to win. "Interesting that you didn't deny you were WordGirl _that_ time…."

Bob's eyes widened at this. He hadn't caught the sneaky trick either and frowned at the boy genius. Sure, Becky would sometimes blurt out things she shouldn't about being WordGirl, but this was different. Tobey was using one of her precious unicorns against her, something the monkey saw as desperately low.

Just then, an idea popped into his head and he walked out of the room. This went unnoticed by the two children, who continued their little standoff.

The plucky superheroine tensed for a moment then denied, "I am _not_ WordGirl! I don't know how many times I have to say it! Now give me back my unicorn, Tobey!"

She took a step towards him and he let it slip just a bit. She put her hands over her mouth, muffling a gasp. It felt as if her heart nearly dropped when she thought he was going to let Angelface shatter into pieces.

"Please…" she muttered, almost too low for anyone to hear. However, even without super-hearing, he had heard her.

Tobey raised an eyebrow, a little bewildered that she cared so much for what he saw as a fragile piece of junk. Sure, it was possibly a fine…decoration, but c'mon, a prized possession? What could possibly be so special about a ceramic unicorn, whose only purpose was to forever have a cheesy plastered smile on its face?

While he stood there struggling to comprehend Becky's fascination with unicorns, someone had snatched said object right from his hands. Tobey blinked rapidly and peered out the window in astonishment. Bob stood on the roof, clutching the unicorn with a satisfied smirk at the boy's expression. He then squeaked in triumph and hopped off the roof.

"Wha—No!" the boy genius screamed in frustration. He stomped his foot and tugged at his hair. He had been so close! He knew she would've blurted out everything if only that stupid monkey hadn't gotten in his way!

Becky smiled at this and, when Bob came back, she ruffled his hair affectionately. He chirped once and handed her Angelface with a beam. "Nice going, Bob!" she complimented and placed her unicorn back on her shelf with care.

This angered Tobey even more and he pushed past them to leave. She frowned at this, but held Bob back from leaping onto the irritating young boy. "I'll handle this, Bob. In the mean time, you can rest up here and I'll bring you a big snack before dinner as a reward for saving Angelface. Okay?"

Her monkey-sidekick didn't like the idea of staying put when he could've helped out, but the idea of a large snack did sound tempting. Besides, Becky could handle the annoying kid, right? Bob crossed his arms but eventually nodded in agreement. He squeaked something that might've been a "Be careful".

The superheroine smiled reassuringly and patted her friend on the head. She then turned around to have a little _chat_ with Theodore McCallister the Third….

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><p><strong>AN: So, what do you think? Is everyone in-character? I'm not so sure since I'm not used to writing for this fandom.**

**Also, in case you guys are wondering, Emergency Plan Forty-Seven is when Captain Huggyface has to dress up as WordGirl in case Becky can't. This showed up in the original shorts, or at least, the ones with Tobey in them.**


	2. Deny, Deny, Deny (Lie, Lie, Lie)

**Chapter Two:**

**Deny, Deny, Deny**

**(Lie, Lie, Lie)**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**lie **_**and **_**vain**_**)**

The Narrator began to recap, "When we last saw _WordGirl_, Tobey had arrived to expose Becky as our favorite superheroine! He even tried using Angelface to get her to tell him what he wants! Oh, the horror of it all! The madness! The—"

"Oh, shut it," the boy genius snapped.

Tobey trudged down the stairs, embarrassed and furious that a_ monkey_ foiled his perfectly evil plan to expose Becky as WordGirl once and for all. He grumbled to himself all the way down, only to bump into Tim Botsford.

"Oh!" the older man exclaimed in surprise, glancing down. Tobey's glasses became askew from this unexpected occurrence, causing him to scowl. "Whoops! Sorry about that, Tobey!"

Tim scrunched his eyebrows then put a hand to his chin. "Wait, why are you here? What were you doing up there anyway?"

The boy genius didn't feel like answering his questions, but luckily, he didn't have to. Rushing downstairs like a madwoman, Becky shouted, "Hold it right there, Tobey! I'm not letting you go _that _easily!"

Tim smiled at his daughter and greeted, "Oh! Hi, Becky! What were you and Tobey doing?"

She glared at the boy genius as she slowly responded, "…Nothing. He just…came over for a little."

Tobey shook his head at this pathetic excuse and began, "Actually, I came over because I think _Becky_ here is really—"

"Bored!" she yelled, startling both her father and Tobey. "Yeah, I got…um…super bored, and Violet and Scoops are busy doing…stuff, so I called him over to hang out!" She felt a twinge of disgust at this lie, not just because it was terrible, but also because she forced herself to pretend that Tobey was actually her _friend._ As if.

Tim Botsford stared at his daughter with a weirded-out expression and asked, "Becky, why are you shouting?"

"Yes, Becky. You're killing my eardrums," Tobey chimed in.

She paused to come up with an excuse then blurted out, "Because I'm happy! I'm really happy that he's here!" For emphasis, she grasped his hand and jumped up and down excitedly. The boy genius jerked his hand away, his eyes wide and face pink.

Her dad glanced from the taken aback Tobey to his hyperactive daughter, who seriously hated herself for acting happy about _Tobey_, with confusion. Suddenly, an understanding grin stretched across his face and he declared, "Oh…I get what's going on here…."

Becky stiffened, a sense of dread overcoming her. "You…do?"

He nodded. "Yup." He winked at the two eleven-year-olds. "You cute kids…. Why didn't you guys tell me sooner? Are you just being shy?"

They stared up at him, baffled. Becky decided to speak up, "Dad…what are you talking about?"

Her father merely chuckled. "Oh, don't pretend like you don't know…. You two like each other, right?"

"_WHAT_?!" Becky shrieked.

Tobey nervously pulled at his collar and stuttered, "M-Me? A-And B-Becky? I-I think you have the wrong idea, M-Mr. Botsford…." His face felt hot and his gaze dropped to the floor.

It took a moment before the plucky superheroine could find her voice. "Tobey…and I? No, no, no, no, no, NO! Dad, I'm not…_in love_ with him! I can't _stand _him! He's a villain! One of my enemies! Not my boy—" She nearly choked on the word. "Boy…friend…." Her face became red and she looked away.

For some reason he couldn't place, Tobey felt hurt by her outburst. _She can't stand me? I'm…I'm not_ that _bad, am I? _he wondered, furrowing his eyebrows.

Tim stared at his daughter, who was still freaking out over what he just said, and wondered aloud, "Wait, huh? If you can't stand Tobey, then why'd you call him over to hang out?"

_Shoot,_ Becky cursed mentally. "Because…" she grumbled hesitantly, "Because…I think I want to…try…being friends…." She cleared her throat and added, "Or at least see if I can tolerate him for more than a few minutes."

Her father shrugged at this response. "Oh, okay. That's awful nice of you to do, Becky. I think Tobey here would like a friend." Then he strolled away to do the laundry, whistling a tune.

The boy genius's head shot up. He was about to retort that he didn't _need_ friends, especially a friend like Becky Botsford, but the words seemed to stick in his throat. So, he remained silent, instead glancing over at his rival.

As soon as her father was out of earshot, Becky turned to him and growled, "Don't you get any weird ideas, Tobey. I _definitely_ don't want to be friends with you. I was just telling my dad that because—"

"That wasn't merely telling him. That was _lying_," he cut in with irritation. "Do you lie to your parents often?"

Her eyes widened at this question. After a few hesitant seconds, she stuttered, "N-No…."

He narrowed his eyes and let a small smile play on his lips. "Oh, I see…. Well, I imagine, what with you being WordGirl, you would have to. It must be tough."

Becky sighed. "Oh yeah. You have no idea…." She gasped when she realized what she just revealed and hastily added, "You have no idea…how wrong you are about that! Yup! I'm not WordGirl, and I don't lie to my family on a daily basis whenever there's a crime in the city! Ha ha! Why would I do that? Lying's bad!"

He made a face at her rambling. He thought he caught her…until she kept denying it in a falsetto voice. Were these more lies, or was Becky just a strange girl? If so, that would be very disappointing. He could've spent his afternoon in a more productive manner rather than wasting his time hanging out with her.

However, he still had this feeling somewhere inside him that there was more to Becky than she let on. He _had_ to know if it was because she was really WordGirl or not.

Tobey cleared his throat. "Hm…well, if _that_ was so, then there's no need for you to yell at me about it, or defend yourself so much either. Your words act as reverse psychology and make me believe that you are WordGirl even more." He didn't really think that, but if his statement unnerved her, he would.

"Reverse psychology? I don't know what that could possibly mean! You're really smart, Tobey!" she exclaimed, her eyes darting around the room.

That did it. Becky Botsford, complimenting him? This was absolute proof that either the world was ending or she was WordGirl. The latter seemed the more likely option. He decided to play along, humor her a little before he asked more questions.

He ran a hand through his hair with an arrogant smirk. "Oh, yes, I know. Smarter than even _you_, perhaps?" the boy genius asked, only to see how she'd react.

The superheroine wrinkled her nose, finally focusing on him. "What? Of course not. I never implied that. I'm _way_ smarter than you."

His smirk faded. Oh, how a girl could wound a boy's pride with her words…. "Ever the vain one, hm, Becky?" he grumbled angrily.

She was taken aback by this. "What? I'm not vain! I'm not exactly modest either, but—"

"Shall I define the word for you?" he cut in. He almost laughed at her enraged expression. Before she could say anything, Tobey recited, folding his hands behind his back, "To be vain means to be extremely proud of something about yourself, such as your appearance, qualities, or in your case, your intelligence."

"I _know_ what vain means! And I'm not—"

"Oh, I beg to differ." He reached in his pocket and took out the tape recorder, rewinding the tape a little to the part he wanted to hear.

"_Ha! You _really_ think you can outsmart me this time, Tobey? Good luck,_" her voice taunted, making her scowl.

As soon as he stopped the tape, she proclaimed, "It's not like you're the most humble boy on the planet either, Mr. 'World's-Most-Formidable-Boy-Genius'." She mimicked the way he talked, which he found to be very insulting.

He blinked. "Was that supposed to be _me_? Your accent is terrible."

"And yours is fake."

_Ouch._ He blushed, but whether it was in embarrassment or rage, he couldn't tell. Tobey frowned and hunched over slightly. "I-I never said that I _wasn't_ vain…."

He furrowed his eyebrows at this. "Oops. That was a double negative. I meant to say—"

"I could follow. I'm not dumb," Becky snapped.

He shut his mouth, unsure of what else to say. He glanced down at his hands and tapped his forefingers together in a fit of nerves.

"I thought you were gonna leave," she said, confused as to why he was just standing there.

The boy genius looked up, startled. His eyes then flickered away and he muttered, "Ah, yes…I was…." He straightened his back and affirmed, "Be warned, Becky! I will be back tomorrow and prove that you are indeed WordGirl!"

"Just go…" the superheroine ordered wearily, gesturing towards the front door.

Tobey's smug attitude faltered. He blinked rapidly but moved past her to leave.

He paused in the doorway and yelled, just to be dramatic, "Remember, Botsford! Tomorrow—"

"Yeah, yeah. Tomorrow. I get it," she said flatly.

He scowled at her indifference and slammed the door behind him. Becky winced a little and looked back, watching him stomp away through her window. She turned around and stared at the floor, still feeling infuriated at being insulted so much and yet…empty at the same time.

Normally, she didn't let Tobey get to her, but today felt different. He was persistent, as always, but he had also managed to hit a nerve by mocking both her intelligence and integrity.

Becky headed up the stairs, her expression solemn as she thought. _Tobey is alarmingly observant when he wants to be…. Did he really try empathizing with me about the fact that I have to lie a lot, or was it just a ruse for me to slip up and reveal something I shouldn't? _She grimaced. _I almost did back there. It's a good thing he believed me…or didn't he? I don't know anymore…. _

The superheroine jolted when she realized exactly how much she had had to lie just in that one instance. Her first impulse whenever someone mentioned something even remotely related to WordGirl was to lie, and to keep building on that lie until whoever she was fooling believed her. It usually didn't take too much, but, as much as she hated to admit it, Tobey was a very smart boy, and thus, harder to lie _to_. He picked up details many others in the city would overlook, even if it was something minute. A change in mood, the words she used, he used anything, and everything, to use as evidence that she was WordGirl. Was it because he liked her?

This brought a rush of heat to her face. The very notion in itself was strange. Tobey, evil boy genius, was head-over-heels for a superheroine, of all people, yet despised her secret identity? It sounded comical, even to her, but it also made no sense. So, what was his true intention now in trying to get Becky to admit that she held a secret double-life?

The young girl was beginning to get a headache from all of this and shuffled into her room. Bob was lying in his hammock, but he sat up when she came in.

He squeaked, asking her how it went. She merely shook her head and face-planted onto her bed with a groan. All this wondering about one of her enemies couldn't be good for her. She might start sympathizing with them, and where would that lead? Nowhere good, as far as she could see.

She turned to lie on her side and started, "Bob? I have a question for you."

The monkey squeaked once, which she understood as "Shoot."

"Do you think I lie a lot?" She had been hesitant to ask, but knew she wanted the answer all the same.

Bob tilted his head and chirped a few times, which she interpreted as "No. You're not a lazy person, Becky." He seemed confused.

She smiled at this and shook her head again, sitting up. "No, not '_lie_' as in 'to lie down or rest', but as in 'to knowingly not tell the truth'. For example, every time I have to leave my family to go save the city, I have to _lie_ about where I'm going so they don't suspect that I'm WordGirl."

Bob had sensed that she was sad when she came in, but he hadn't expected _this_. He scratched his head, puzzled on how to answer without hurting his friend's feelings. He then jumped out of his hammock to sit next to her and patted her back.

The monkey spoke in a combination of squeaks, chirps, and gestures, all of which Becky understood. He had told her yes, but also that it was necessary for her to do it. She had a city to protect, so her lying was done with good intentions, even if her excuses were a little weak at times. He also said that she shouldn't worry about it too much, but, if it does become hard on her, then she should tell her family and friends who she really is. They'd understand, and love her no matter what.

Becky smiled at her good friend and gave him a hug, which he returned promptly. "Thanks, Bob. I feel so much better now. It's just…Tobey brought it up while we were downstairs, and I guess I got upset because he's so…perceptive. He figured out that I lie a lot, and even sort of pointed it out. I usually don't give lying much thought, but if even a villain has to scold me about it, then hasn't it turned into a bad habit?"

He frowned at this and shook his head. Bob placed his hand on her shoulder and chirped a couple of times, which she recognized as "Becky, like I said, if the lie comes with good intentions, then it's not a bad thing. I know you're a good person."

Her smile grew wider. She shouldn't have let that prick of a boy genius get to her.

She stood up and exclaimed, "Bob, I forgot to get the snack I promised you! Let's go downstairs and I'll whip up something nice."

Bob rubbed his stomach in appreciation, licking his lips as he thought of all the possible foods she could make for him. The two headed down, and Becky felt lighter than she had for a while.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: In case any of you are wondering, I got the name for the chapter title from the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules.**

**There's this scene where Rodrick (the main character Greg's older brother) insists that Greg "deny, deny, deny" no matter how hard their parents push them on whether or not they had a party at their house.**

**The scene then transitions to Greg and his friend Rowley at school, where the more innocent boy grumbles, "Sounds to me like 'lie, lie, lie'". **

**So, yeah…. That's how I got the idea of what to call this chapter.**

**I wanted to fit the Narrator into this chapter more, but then again, I wanted this chapter to have a sort of serious note that the show doesn't have (no offense), so….**


	3. By Jove, You're Now My Rival!

**Chapter Three:**

**By Jove, You're Now My Rival!**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**rival **_**and **_**disgruntled**_**)**

"Last time on _WordGirl_, Tim Botsford misunderstood why Tobey came over to the Botsfords' residence, which created…shall we say…_tension_ between our favorite superheroine and a certain boy genius…." The Narrator snickered to himself.

Becky glared up at her ceiling. "Hey, you make it sound like us fighting is something else, and I don't like it…" she stated uncomfortably as she put two batches of cookies in the oven. It was a good thing Bob had asked her to make something simple. She wasn't a very good cook like her father.

"Oh ho, it's _us_ now, is it?" the Narrator asked, struggling to hold in a laugh.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I didn't mean anything by it! Geez, what is it with you and my dad thinking weird things about me and Tobey?" she wondered, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you two _are_ getting to that age, you know."

She shook her head and replied, "I don't get it. What age? Who cares if we're both eleven?"

He chuckled at this and said, "Never mind! I have to switch scenes now…."

"But you didn't answer my questions!" Becky protested and gave him a puppy-eyed look.

"I'm sorry, but it says I have to in my script!"

The plucky superheroine frowned. "Okay…. But you'll answer them later, right?" she asked hopefully.

"Definitely," the Narrator promised.

He cleared his throat and the scene shifted to just outside the McCallister home. "In Tobey's bedroom lair…."

The camera zoomed in through his window and one could see Tobey sitting on his bed. An official _WordGirl_ landline phone sat on the bed next to him and he snatched it up. He dialed the number, anxiously gripping the device in his hands like his life depended on it. With every ring, he became more and more agitated. Why wasn't he answering? "C'mon, c'mon, c'mon! Pick up already!"

"Impatient, much?" the Narrator asked in amusement.

"Sh! Quiet down!" Tobey hissed. "I don't want you interrupting me when—"

"_Hello_?" the doctor's voice wondered, sounding suspicious.

The boy genius blinked. "Ah, yes, Doctor Two-Brains. This is Tobey. I—"

"_Tobey? The robot kid?_"

"Yes, of course. Do you know of any other Tobeys?" he snapped.

"_Well, there's my cousin's husband's—_"

"Never mind that! That was a rhetorical question." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "_Anyway_…I just happened to see on the news that there's going to be a fancy cheese-tasting gallery coming to town. However, only those who have been invited may attend. I think you know where I'm getting at…."

"_A _cheese_-tasting gallery, huh? Sounds interesting!_" Doctor Two-Brains exclaimed then cackled as he thought of how to break in. He stopped mid-laugh, startling the boy genius. "_Wait, why are you telling me this?_"

He tensed at the question yet smoothly replied, "Oh, no particular reason. Can't a fellow villain tell another villain about a potential crime without it being strange?"

It was silent for a moment before the doctor spoke again. "_You're planning something, aren't you, child?_" he asked, his tone curiously flat.

"What? What makes you think I would—"

"_Kid, you don't usually call me about potential crimes. You don't even _like_ me. I know an evil plan cooking up when I see one. Why else would you call someone you dislike unless you wanted to use them?_"

Tobey opened his mouth to reply when he heard his mother call out, "Tobey, I'm home! And I bought ice-cream!"

The boy genius sat up straight and muttered, dropping his accent, "Ice cream?" He then yelled, "Give me a minute! I need to take care of something first!"

He cleared his throat and began, his accent returning, "Ah, sorry about that. Now, what were you saying?"

"_Kid, you're not really British, are ya?_" the doctor questioned in a weirded-out tone.

Silence. Tobey felt his face heat up in embarrassment. How was he supposed to answer that?

"_It's not a _bad _thing. You have an image to keep up, right?_" He paused, seeming to think of something else. "_Hey, I couldn't tell it was fake until you dropped it. Don't worry about it._"

"O-Oh…" Tobey stuttered. Doctor Two-Brains trying to comfort him only made him feel even more humiliated.

A minute passed in awkward silence. Then another. Finally, the older villain said, "_Well, if you don't want to tell me your evil plan, fine. That gallery better be worth my time or I'll be very disgruntled._"

He hung up and Tobey was left listening to a dial-tone.

* * *

><p>"Theodore McCallister the Third, what on earth were you doing that could keep you from ice-cream?" his mother wondered, a little concerned.<p>

Tobey's eyes darted to the left. "Oh, just…stuff…." Goodness, his lies were starting to sound as bad as Becky's. He'd have to work on that later.

She raised an eyebrow. "'Stuff'? What sort of 'stuff'?"

"You know…school things. I was, um, studying."

Claire McCallister narrowed her eyes at him. "Studying, hm? You better not be _lying_ to me, young man." Her eyes flashed dangerously.

The boy genius crossed his fingers behind his back. "I'm not, Mom. Can I get some ice-cream now?"

He began to sweat as his mother stared at him. If his mother suspected that something was wrong, the plan would end in early failure.

She sighed and looked over at a plastic bag on the kitchen counter. "It's over there. Try not to eat the entire tub in one sitting again, okay? It's not healthy."

He grinned. "Alright, Mom. I won't."

* * *

><p>Tobey had eaten three-quarters of the tub before putting it away in the fridge. His mother shook her head at this. Well, he didn't eat the <em>entire<em> tub, at least. She had to give him credit for finding that loophole.

"Mom?" he started, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Hm?" She noticed the uncomfortable expression on his face and immediately became worried. "What is it?"

"Well, er…. I want to ask you something…. It's sort of weird though…. Um…" he said hesitantly and looked down.

Claire McCallister tensed, her woman's intuition telling her that this issue was seriously troubling her son. "Tobey, you know you can ask me anything," she replied.

The boy genius shuffled his feet. "C-Can you set up a play-date tomorrow? I w-want to try being friends with someone…." He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the ridiculous question he just asked.

She felt her heart swell with joy. Her son actually _wanted_ to socialize with other people for once! "Oh, Tobey, that's wonderful! Who do you want to be friends with?" she wondered, scooting closer to him.

He frowned, possibly not expecting such enthusiasm, but muttered, "Becky Botsford." His eyes gleamed with an emotion she couldn't place. It was part irritation and part…something else.

"Becky Botsford?" his mother repeated in astonishment. "But you've told me on several occasions about how much you don't like her."

"Well, I've changed my mind about her. She isn't…so bad, I suppose," he managed to choke out. Thinking back to how she insulted him earlier, he tried his best not to scowl.

"Tobey, do you like her?" she blurted out. The question had begun to form in the back of her mind ever since he mentioned the young girl's name. It was only natural for mothers to wonder about these things, right?

Tobey wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Huh? No! Why does everyone keep thinking that?" he questioned of no one in particular.

"Well, you _did_ just go to her house earlier…" the Narrator pointed out.

Claire glanced up at her ceiling, her eyebrows furrowed. "He did what?"

"Never mind that, Mom." He turned around quickly and muttered at the Narrator, using his fake accent, "That was only to expose Botsford as WordGirl! You know that! I don't _like_ her!"

"Why not? You like WordGirl. Why don't you like the girl you think is her secret identity?"

The boy genius pointed at the ceiling in triumph. "Aha! So you admit that Botsford is WordGirl! Yes! I win!" he shouted with an evil cackle.

The Narrator snorted. "I said the girl you _think_ is her secret identity. I didn't say it was definite that she _was_ WordGirl," he retorted.

Tobey's grin dropped. "Wait, so she's _not _WordGirl?" he wondered in disbelief.

"I'm not gonna say a thing."

The boy scowled. "Now I am _very_ disgruntled…" he grumbled to himself.

He nearly forgot his mother was standing behind him. "Theodore McCallister the Third!" she yelled, startling him so much he jumped. "Don't tell me you only want to have that play-date tomorrow because you think Becky Botsford is WordGirl! What a ridiculous thought! As if a ten-year-old girl could handle the pressures of being a superheroine all the time!"

"Sh-She's eleven now, Mom…. We're the same age…" he said in a low voice. _Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! The plan is failing!_ His breathing became rapid in panic.

"Yes, well, that's still too young! I'm sure you must be mistaken." She shook her head, putting her hand to her temple. "Tobey…."

_Here it comes…_he thought, tensing in anticipation for a lecture.

"I'm going to set up that play-date for you," she said wearily. He let out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and his shoulders relaxed.

"But," his mother added, causing him to stiffen once more, "I don't want you causing trouble for poor Becky Botsford. Try being her friend, okay? You said it yourself, she's probably not so bad…."

He frowned at this and grunted. She held in a sigh. "You promise me right now, young man, that you'll at least try it," she ordered with a stern tone.

Tobey crossed his fingers behind his back once again. "I…promise, Mom."

* * *

><p>"The next day, at the Botsford house, Becky, a.k.a. WordGirl, is playing her favorite video game, <em>Pretty Princess and—<em>"

"Sh! I'm trying to concentrate! I'll be very disgruntled if I lose this level!" Becky hissed as she stared at the screen.

"Disgruntled? Tobey said that word earlier. What does _disgruntled_ even mean?" The Narrator asked.

She answered in a monotone, "To be _disgruntled_ means to be irritated or frustrated."

"Wow, I'm impressed you were able to define a word when you're giving me only half of your attention!" the Narrator complimented.

"Uh-huh. Yeah."

"…You're not really listening to me, are you?"

"Yeah, sure. Sure…."

He grumbled, "Well, that's just great."

It was silent for just a moment before Sally Botsford suddenly called out in a sing-song voice, "_Becky!_"

The young girl didn't take her wide eyes off the screen as she said, "Huh?"

Her mother whirled in front of her, so she had to move her head around trying to get a better view of the screen. "Mom!" she protested, not attempting to hide her exasperation. "Please move out of my way! I'm almost done with this level! I just…have to find…this…boss!" She strained her neck to see her progress in getting to a dark tower.

Sally glanced behind her then giggled at her mistake. "Oh! Sorry, Becky!" she exclaimed and darted out of the way. "It's just that I had something important to tell you!"

"Uh-huh…okay…" Becky muttered, her attention fully focused on fighting the boss of this level. It was really tough to beat since she had to keep dodging and jumping to avoid its attacks.

Believing her daughter was listening, Sally shouted, "The McCallisters are coming over to visit! I'm going to catch up with Claire while you and Tobey can have another play-date! Wow! Isn't that fun?"

"Yeah, sounds good…" she responded quickly. It took a few seconds for the information to fully register in her mind. Becky shook her head and stared at her mother, dumbfounded. "Wait, what?"

Just then the Pretty Princess was hit by a pixellated fireball and yelled, "Ow!"

The plucky superheroine snapped her head back to the TV. "Gah! No! I need to use a Rainbow! My HP's too low!" she shrieked and frantically searched her items menu. "C'mon, I know I equipped one! Ah, here!" The Rainbow item was highlighted in the menu.

Unfortunately, she found it a second too late and another pixellated fireball hit the Pretty Princess. A pitiful noise emitted from the game and the _Game Over_ screen appeared. "Nooooo!" she screamed, dropping the controller onto her lap and put her hands to her head. She slunk down her seat, feeling very disgruntled.

Sally blinked several times in confusion. "Ah…you heard me, right, Becky?"

Too disappointed with herself to talk, Becky merely nodded.

Her mother cleared her throat and continued cheerfully, "The best part is that Claire assures us that Tobey's _not_ bringing anything over that could potentially destroy our house!"

"I wouldn't count on it. He's gotta have something big planned for today…" she muttered with a scowl.

Sally tilted her head. "What was that, Becky?"

Luckily, she was saved from answering when the doorbell rang. "Oh! There they are now!" her mother announced excitedly and rushed to the door.

She beamed as she swung it open. "Claire!" she greeted loudly, spreading her arms out.

"Sally!" Mrs. McCallister shouted with equal verve, and the two friends hugged.

Becky's mother stepped back. "Oh, it's been_ such _a long time since we've talked!"

Claire laughed. "Well, I've been busy with _this one_," she said, gesturing towards her son beside her. He pouted as he glared at the neatly trimmed bush next to him and had a bright orange backpack strapped to his shoulders.

Sally Botsford glanced at him. "Hello, Tobey!" she greeted politely.

His eyes flickered to her for a second before turning back to the bush. "Mrs. Botsford," he muttered.

"Theodore McCallister the Third! What did I say about manners?" his mother scolded, putting her hands on her hips.

He rolled his eyes but looked up at Sally Botsford and stated in a cheesy polite tone, "Hello, Mrs. Botsford! Thank you ever so much for having me over! You're so very kind!" He promptly returned to making a sour expression as he looked away again.

She waved dismissively. "Oh, it's no trouble! It's a pleasure having you here!" She turned to look at her daughter slumped on the couch. "Becky, come over here and say hello!"

"Can't I do it from here?" Becky wondered as she shut off the TV.

"Becky…" her mother warned, raising an eyebrow.

She sighed loudly but got out of her seat. She crossed her arms and grumbled, "Hi, Tobey."

The boy genius glared right back at her. "Hello…Becky…."

Claire McCallister shook her head. "I don't know _why_ he speaks in a British accent to other people. We've never even been to England," she commented aloud.

Tobey jerked his head up, his eyes wide. "_Mom_!" he protested in his normal voice, blushing hotly.

"What?" his mother questioned. "You don't need to use an accent, Tobey. Just be yourself."

Becky smirked at this display. Hadn't she just teased him about this matter yesterday? Honestly….

The McCallisters entered the house with Tobey grumbling to himself. The red on his face had dulled to a faint pink, though he still seemed angry.

"Well, you two can play upstairs while we talk about boring, adult things," Claire announced, waving at her son to join his playmate.

Tobey grinned in a way that made Becky even more suspicious of his true intentions. "Yes, let's go _have fun_," he said with a dark chuckle. He gestured at the stairs and asked in a feigned polite tone, "Will you please show me the way to your room, Becky?"

She glared at him and snapped, "You already know where it is."

"My! Such an ungracious hostess you are! I suppose I'll show myself up if you insist on being so disgruntled with me…." He sounded hurt, but kept that smug smile stretched on his face. He turned towards the stairs and started heading up.

The plucky superheroine glanced back at her mother for a few seconds before rushing after him.

* * *

><p>Bob had been taking a nap in his hammock until Tobey burst into the room. He got up, startled when the door slammed against the wall with a loud <em>bang<em>. When he realized that it was _Tobey_, not Becky, standing in the doorway staring back at him, taken aback, the monkey's eyes widened and he squeaked loudly to alert his partner to the intruder in their home.

"Why, _hello_ there, monkey. How very nice to see you again," he greeted with a strained smile. More than anything, he wanted to throttle the chimp for ruining his plan yesterday, but he knew he had to stay calm in order for his current evil scheme to work.

Bob jumped out of his hammock and screeched at him, throwing his hands into the air. He assumed this to be a lecture of some sort, but couldn't understand a bit of it. Tobey stood there awkwardly as he was forced to listen to unintelligible monkey chatter.

The boy genius almost felt relieved when Becky finally came in. "Bob, what's got you so riled up?" she asked, trying to ignore Tobey for as long as possible.

Her monkey-sidekick gestured at him with both hands and squeaked in exasperation. She raised an eyebrow as he went off, "Why is this kid here again?! He's so annoying! I just know he's got something bad planned! He's got that smug look like he's got something to hide! Get him out of here!"

Becky rubbed the bridge of her nose and shut her eyes. "Yeah, I know. But he's here for a play-date. His mom's here too, so it's not like I can just get rid of him. We'll just have to deal with him for now."

"I'm right here, you know," Tobey piped up with a pout.

She opened her eyes with a sigh. "Well, _sor-ry._" She certainly didn't sound sorry.

The boy genius glanced at Bob warily but managed to ask, "So, how is it you can do that? Understand the monkey, that is."

Bob chirped angrily and climbed back into his hammock. "He says, 'This monkey has a name,'" Becky translated, "'I'm Bob.'"

"I apologize…Bob. I didn't mean to offend you." _Mental note: Call Bob "the monkey" from now on. It irritates him_, he thought with a faint smile.

"To answer your question, I've been with Bob for a long time, so, naturally, I learned to comprehend those noises he makes as language," she replied behind him.

Tobey turned and was surprised to find his eyes meeting the top of her head. "Did you…get smaller?" he wondered bewilderedly. He knew it was a ridiculous question, people didn't _shrink_, but Becky was _definitely _shorter than he remembered her to be.

She blinked and realized the same thing he did. She breathed out, "No…you just got taller…." She shook her head and inquired, "How'd you grow that much overnight?"

He frowned, patting the top of his head as if he couldn't believe he were really that height. "I-I don't know…. Growth spurt?" he wondered with a shrug.

"Huh…." Becky noticed the orange backpack strapped to his back and narrowed her eyes. "Whatcha got there, hm? Something to do with _your robuts_?" she questioned, mimicking his accent again.

His left eye twitched as he struggled to keep his temper in check. "No…. Yes…. Well, sort of…" he choked out and clenched his hands into fists. She was certainly pushing him today.

The plucky superheroine crossed her arms. "What do you mean, 'sort of'?"

Tobey sighed and shrugged off his backpack. He unzipped it and took out a small, metal suitcase that she instantly recognized. "Seriously? I never thought you'd recycle a plan like that. I'm so disgruntled at how dumb you think I am!" she exclaimed with a scowl.

He blinked and looked down at the suitcase. "Oh…you think…. No! And Theodore McCallister the Third does _not _recycle plans! I'm smart enough to always come up with new ones," he said with a huff. After a few seconds, he muttered, "And I won't be saying this again, so you better hear it the first time. I think of you as one of my rivals."

Her eyes widened. "A rival is a person who is equal to you that you want to surpass. For you…to admit we're equal…. Well, that's pretty big. From you, I think that's a compliment. Thank you."

Tobey flushed in embarrassment and his eyes darted to the suitcase in his hand. "Whatever, let's just play _By Jove, You've Wrecked My Robut_," he said, opening the case. Two boards flopped down from the top of the suitcase, creating two game boards with the backs stuck together. Robots no bigger than her hand stood off to the side of the actual game, waiting to be placed.

"Hey, isn't that the game from a few episodes back?" the Narrator asked.

The boy genius smiled, appreciating the recognition. "Yes, it is. However, this game is a little different from last time. Now—"

"Oh, let me guess. The robots in the city _this time_ are 'too powerful for even WordGirl to handle', insert evil laugh here," Becky cut in sarcastically with a roll of her eyes, quoting with her fingers.

He looked confused. "Huh? There aren't any robuts in the city. Can't I just play a friendly game with you without you being suspicious of me?" he asked, frowning.

She narrowed her eyes as a response.

He sighed wearily. "Apparently not…." Tobey shook his head. "I assure you this is just a normal board game. No robuts, other than those tiny ones there, or treachery of any kind involved." This was true, at least. He had fixed it so it was just a simple, voice-activated game with blinking lights and sounds.

"I still don't trust you, Tobey," she stated with a frown.

He sighed again and groaned, "Frankly, I never expected you to. I don't exactly trust you either, mind you, but there really isn't anything wrong with playing a fair game against your rival. There's no trust involved in that."

"He's got a point," the Narrator chipped in.

Becky rolled her eyes as she went to sit on her bed. "Fine, but if this is all a trick, and there really _are_ robots out destroying the city—"

"You'll turn into WordGirl in front of me?" he wondered hopefully.

She blinked. "Wha…? No! I'll go downstairs and tell your mom!"

"Hm…" he mused as he sat opposite her, "You're not overreacting to my accusations. I don't know whether to take that as 'Sure, I'm WordGirl, what of it?' or 'I'm too tired to panic to such falsehoods.'"

"Take it as the latter," she replied smoothly as she started placing her robots on her board.

The boy genius made a face at this but began putting his pieces on his board as well. "Like I said, I don't trust you, so I'll assume nearly everything you say concerning this matter is a lie," he asserted and glanced at her to see her reaction.

"Fine. But you better not cheat," she warned as she put her last, little robot on its square.

"Cheat?" he repeated with an astonished chuckle. "Please, there's no need to cheat against _you_," he boasted and waved at her dismissively.

She folded her arms again. "Really? From what WordGirl told me, you cheat whenever you can't win!"

He scowled at this. "There's no need for me to cheat. I can _easily_ defeat you at this game."

"Sure, _rival_," she added with a roll of her eyes.

Tobey sighed but raised his left hand, dragging a finger from his other hand across his chest in an "x".

She raised an eyebrow. "What was that?" she asked, watching as his hands fell to his sides.

He pursed his lips but replied, "Cross my heart, I won't cheat. For _this _game, at least."

Becky blinked at the childish gesture. He was serious, she could tell, but something about him promising in such a way was oddly…touching.

Bob chirped something that might've been, "This is a bad idea…."

"Just play along, Bob. We'll figure out his _real_ game soon," the superheroine muttered.

Tobey smiled at her and offered, "I'll let you have the first move."

She stared down at her board then guessed, "Blue…five?"

A beeping sound from the game made her flinch. He chuckled at this and explained, "That merely signifies a miss. I never took you for the jumpy sort, Becky." The way he said her name made it feel like an insult. "Anyway, it's my turn. Yellow-two."

One of her robots threw its hands into the air and shook in its place. "_Why me?_" it complained in a monotone before falling down. She tensed, waiting for a louder _boom_ to accompany it. It never sounded and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

He smirked and made a rolling gesture with his hand. "Now you say…."

She let out a loud sigh but quickly uttered, "By Jove, you've wrecked my robot…."

His eyes gleamed with excitement. "Great! Oh, it's your turn again…."

The two ended up playing three games, Becky losing the first time, winning the second, but unfortunately losing again for the last game. Tobey looked triumphant and she anticipated a long string of bragging and "I-told-you-so"s.

"Wasn't that fun?" he said instead.

She blinked. "Um…no boasting? No '_Ha, Becky Botsford, I told you I'd beat you! Why did I ever think of you as my rival?'_" She couldn't help but mimic him again.

This time, he took no offense to this and merely smiled. "Oh, bragging's no fun if you expect it," he teased and reached over to clean up the game.

Just then, Becky picked up a familiar cackle with her super hearing. She gasped and whispered, "Uh-oh! Sounds like Doctor Two-Brains again!"

"What was that?" Tobey asked, startling her. He stared at her with an almost…expectant gleam in his eyes that unnerved her. Why was he looking at her like that?

"Um…." She glanced around her room, her eyes finally landing on Bob lying bored in his hammock. "Uh-oh! I forgot to buy Bob snacks! Wait here! I'll just go buy some for him real quick!" she shouted, making eye-contact with the monkey to try to tell him to dress in his Captain Huggyface uniform.

Bob squeaked once, which she understood as, "Snacks?"

"Hm, maybe you should come too, Bob! I'll buy something special for you," she lied, hoping he would take the hint. Luckily, he seemed to understand and hopped down from his hammock, heading towards the door.

"May I come with you? I'm a bit famished myself," Tobey lied. The gears in his head turned rapidly. His plan was falling into place, exactly as he imagined it. It was a glorious feeling to be so in control of such a predicament, particularly one of his own design.

_Checkmate, Becky Botsford…_he thought while trying very hard not to smile. _Whether you let me come with you or not on this so-called "grocery trip" of yours, I'll know if you try to turn into WordGirl because I am not leaving your side!_

"You're diabolical…" the Narrator said in horror.

The boy genius blinked and glanced up at the ceiling. _Since when can you read my thoughts?_ he wondered in his mind, just to test it.

"Well, I'm the Narrator. I'm supposed to know everything that happens in this show…."

Tobey decided not to engage in further conversation. It would only give him a headache to wonder how much this "Narrator" really knew about things.

Instead, he delighted in the fact that Becky seemed to be wavering between the two decisions. It really didn't matter which she chose; he'd cornered her either way.

"Um…" she replied intelligently, and he caught her eyes flicker to her monkey.

Bob glared at him with as much intensity as he could muster. Geez, this monkey did not like him _at all_….

"Well, we're supposed to be in the middle of a play-date, right? I guess it would be rude of me to just leave, and we can't exactly just go off to the supermarket on our own…. What was I thinking? Psh…" she blathered as she gestured dismissively.

She looked back at her monkey-sidekick and stuttered, "Y-You can get your snacks by yourself, right, Bob? I-I mean…_cheese_ isn't exactly hard to come by in this town. It's not like they cost, oh, _five-hundred and two_ dollars or anything!"

Becky desperately hoped he understood her. She knew that what she said sounded strange, but it held all sorts of hints of what she wanted him to do.

Bob stood there for a solid minute, trying to process his best friend's not-so-subtle hinting. Then, his eyes lit up in comprehension and he squeaked a few times to tell her, "I'll take care of it. Bye!"

He headed out, wondering how on earth he was going to initiate Emergency Plan Five-Hundred-Two all by himself. It would be a daunting challenge, to say the least.

As soon as he was out of sight from Becky's bedroom window, he quickly changed into his Captain Huggyface uniform and sped into the city, hoping that a miracle would happen and he'd be able to figure out where Doctor Two-Brains was committing his latest crime.

"HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLP!" a familiar voice wailed close by. Huggy saw the ponytail guy with the green jacket run up to him, flailing his arms behind him like they were nothing but string. The man stopped just in front of him and cried, "Doctor Two-Brains broke into the invite-only Fancy Cheese-Eating gallery at the city's convention center and is holding every rich person in town hostage!"

He blinked and looked around, obviously confused. "Wait, is this the police station?" he asked, scratching his head and staring at Huggy intently.

The monkey shook his head and pointed at a building farther into the city. The man glanced back then smiled at Huggy. "Oh, thanks." He proceeded to run over to the real police station, all the while wailing, "HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLP!"

Huggy shook his head and whistled for a taxi, which arrived promptly. He took out a little notepad he kept with him and wrote the name of his destination on it. He added the word URGENT in all caps and underlined it for emphasis. Once he was satisfied with it, he showed it to the cab driver.

The cabbie nodded and said, "Sure, hairy kid. I can get ya there in no time flat." Once Huggy put on his seat belt, he sped through the streets, weaving through traffic like a madman. Within just a few minutes, he was standing outside the convention center and wondering what just happened.

He sighed and stretched out his arms, preparing for the brawl he would eventually have with Doctor Two-Brains. Huggy could only hope that Becky would find a way to distract the annoying kid long enough for her to rush over, defeat Two-Brains, and return, all without looking suspicious.

Suddenly, something snatched him up and lifted him high into the air, making him shriek at the top of his lungs. He couldn't move his arms or legs, so he settled for craning his head back to find out what was going on.

Huggy shouldn't have been surprised to see one of Tobey's robots gripping him in its metal fist. He screeched at it, but it didn't budge. The monkey struggled to break free, to no avail.

After a few minutes of this, he reluctantly gave up. It was no use. He didn't have super strength like Becky did. He rested his chin against the robot's finger with a despairing chirp.

It was in that moment that he realized that the robot wasn't moving to destroy the city. The monkey looked around, baffled. It seemed that there was only one too…. This was strange…. Why was it just…holding him?

He glanced back at the robot again. It simply stared ahead, as if it were shut off. He tried once more to escape, but its grip was as strong as ever.

He chirped again, this time with irritation. He knew that boy was up to something! But…what that was exactly…he couldn't say. The robot wasn't destroying anything. It just stood here, holding him without the slightest explanation. Maybe it was defective?

Huggy sighed. In his condition, he couldn't do much of anything, much less implement a plan to stop Doctor Two-Brains. He shoved down his pride and squeaked, "HELP!"

* * *

><p>"BWAHAHAHAHA!" Doctor Two-Brains cackled as the richer citizens of FairCity cowered behind tables full of cheese. "Alright, henchmen! Grab all the cheese in this place so we can eat it back at the lair!" His two henchmen obliged, snatching every piece of cheese off the various tables set up in the hall.<p>

He rubbed his gloved hands together and exclaimed, "Might as well eat some since I'm here!"

He grabbed a random piece of cheese and shoved it into his mouth, chewing appreciatively at his favorite treat. The doctor paused, suddenly realizing the type of cheese he was eating was—

He spit it all out, disgusting some of the gallery-goers nearby.

"_Goat cheese?!_ Yuck!" he whined, shaking his head vigorously to show his utter revulsion. He spotted Reginald not too far away and pointed at him. "You! Please tell me there's some other kind of cheese here other than…than…_that_!" He pointed at the goat cheese like it was dirty sock.

"Didn't you read the banner above the stage? This is the 'Fancy _Goat_ Cheese-Tasting Gallery'. This is the only kind of cheese we have here. If you don't like it, you can leave, you unhygienic mouse," Reginald scoffed and shooed at him with a snooty frown.

Doctor Two-Brains scowled. "Okay, this whole endeavor has gotten me _very_ disgruntled."

"Disgruntled?" his shorter henchman asked.

"Yes, _disgruntled_. You know, when you get irritated with someone or something," he explained impatiently.

"That word's already been defined…" the Narrator pointed out.

This made the doctor's scowl deepen. "Oh yeah? I'm sure WordGirl was the one who defined it too, but it's not like these fools were there to hear the definition, now were they?" he wondered sarcastically.

"Well, you have a point…."

"Of course. I always do." He turned to his henchmen and ordered, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "You can leave the goat cheese here. I don't want any of that nasty stuff clogging up my lair. That kid Tobey owes me for wasting my time like this…."

"Um…boss?" the smaller henchman began.

"What?"

"Well, Charlie spotted that robot kid's robot outside holdin' Captain Huggyface, and we're not really sure why."

Doctor Two-Brains raised an eyebrow. "You didn't see WordGirl with him?"

Charlie just shook his head.

"Huh…. Well, since the kid pretty much ruined my day by not telling me that this was a _goat cheese_-tasting gallery, I'm gonna ruin his day by taking apart his robot!" he stated with an evil grin.

"To be fair, Tobey doesn't know you hate goat cheese…" the Narrator pointed out.

He waved him away impatiently. "Ah, details. Who cares! I'm here already! Might as well do something fun, even if it's not exactly a crime!" He cackled as he left the convention center, waving a wrench in his hand.

* * *

><p>"Bob's taking an awful long time to come back with his snacks…" Becky said as she stared out the window. A knot of worry formed in her stomach after the half-hour mark.<p>

Tobey had been sitting on her bed, rereading one of the _Princess Triana _books. He looked up at her, trying very hard not to smile. If Bob was Captain Huggyface, then he'd headed towards the convention center, where he would be captured by one of his trusty robots. If this indeed was the case, then this could be the reason why the monkey was taking so long in getting back.

"Maybe he just wants to take his time choosing his snacks. One must take price into account, you know…" he replied nonchalantly, biting his lip to keep himself from laughing.

She glanced back at him, the nervous gleam in her eyes for her friend making him a bit uncomfortable. "Yeah…maybe…." She didn't sound too convinced. The superheroine sighed and looked out the window again.

It was quiet for a few moments before he finally said, "Well, as much as I love reading the adventures Princess Triana has, I want to do something else…." He shut the book and set it aside.

Becky turned around, though he could tell she was still distracted. "Okay. Did you bring anything else to do in that backpack of yours?" she asked, jerking her chin towards the almost forgotten bag leaning against her bed.

Tobey looked down at the bag and frowned. "Well…not really. To be honest, I didn't think I'd stay this long…. Our mothers must have quite a lot to catch up on…."

"Well, sure. They haven't seen each other in a while, and it doesn't help that your robot attacks keep her working extra to pay for the damage you cause every time," she stated.

He opened his mouth, but found he couldn't come up with a snappy response. The boy genius pursed his lips at his failure and instead grumbled, "I don't see why they have to talk so much though. What on earth could they be talking _about_ that could take hours?"

She shrugged. "Your mom did say 'boring, adult things'."

He snorted and asked, "And what would that detail?"

"I wouldn't know. I'm not an adult," she replied and wandered over to her bookshelf.

An idea popped into his head just then, brightening his mood. A mischievous smile broke out across his face and he blurted out, "What say we eavesdrop on them and find out what 'boring, adult things' they're discussing?"

Becky whipped her head over to him in surprise. "Huh? Why would you wanna do that?"

He got off her bed and walked towards the door with a grin. "Come now, rival, where's your sense of adventure?" he questioned with a chuckle.

She wrinkled her nose and countered, "There's no sense of adventure in eavesdropping on our moms' conversation."

"Well, what if they happen to be talking about _you_ at the moment? I know my mother _loves_ talking about my achievements and such with her other friends. It's quite embarrassing actually…." He shook his head. "Anyway, aren't you curious on what your mother says about you to other people?"

The young girl hesitated for a moment before stuttering, "N-No…."

Tobey raised an eyebrow. "You hesitated," he pointed out. "C'mon, admit it, you want to know what your mother says about you to her friends. Perhaps she spills embarrassing secrets of yours that no one else knows…."

His eyes flashed with mischief then. "Hm, all the more reason for me to eavesdrop on them…. I wonder if I can catch an interesting tidbit that would mortify you if anyone were to find out…." He rubbed his hands together and snickered to himself.

The very idea of Tobey knowing some humiliating story about her made her face flush. Her jaw worked, trying to form words, but she couldn't express any coherent sentences.

This only caused his smirk to grow. He turned to leave and said, "Well, I'll leave you here, sputtering in my wake while I uncover some fascinatingly humiliating story about you. Goodbye, Becky."

She rushed over to him before he could even get a foot out the door, grabbing his arm and pulling him back. "I don't think so, McCallister! There's no way I'm letting you hear anything like that!" Her face became even warmer as he glanced back and found their faces were a little too close for comfort.

Something flashed in his eyes then that she couldn't place…or maybe it was just a random glare on his glasses. He shifted so he could fully face her and she caught the sly grin on his face, as if he'd accomplished something important.

"My, Becky Botsford, just look at the rosy color of your cheeks. Is it possible that you…." He curled a finger under her chin and forced her head up to stare into his bright blue eyes. "…like me?" he finished, leaning in ever so close.

It was at this particular moment that the door burst open and Bob rushed in, squeaking furiously about his run-in with one of Tobey's robots in town. He stopped mid-rant when he realized what exactly he'd walked into. His jaw dropped and he had to blink several times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

The boy genius looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "I see the monkey's back…. Without any snacks, I might add…. Pity, I'm a bit disgruntled that there's no food…."

This nonchalant comment snapped Becky out of her shock and she let go of Tobey's arm, stepping back hastily. "T-To answer y-your question…" she replied, wiping her hand against her skirt like it had germs, "NO! I don't like you! At all! I thought we went over this yesterday!"

"Such a fervent denial might suggest otherwise," he taunted and wiggled his fingers at her. "Though, I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. I mean, I _am_ devilishly handsome, after all."

"Um, first of all, _ew_. Second—"

"What do you mean, _ew_?! You should consider yourself lucky that my mother even arranged for you to spend so much time with me!" he yelled, offended.

The superheroine wrinkled her nose. "_Lucky_…right…. The word I would use would be _disastrous,_ especially because of your attempt to _flirt_ with me. Yuck!" She stuck out her tongue and shuddered.

He clenched his hands into fists and stomped his foot. "I wasn't trying to _flirt_ with you! I was merely trying to get you to admit how dreamy I am now that I allowed you to stare at me up close!"

"So…tilting her head up and leaning closer to her face isn't flirting with her?" the Narrator wondered.

Tobey glared up at the ceiling. "No!"

"Huh…whatever you say…." The Narrator coughed, "Casanova…."

The boy genius felt his face heat up. "I _heard_ that. This is none of your business, you imbecile!"

"Technically, it is. I have to narrate the things that go on in this show and clarify every once in a while for the younger kids."

Before he could snap back a reply, he heard his mother shout his name from downstairs. "What, mother?" he shouted, daring to keep up his fake accent.

"We have to go now! Say goodbye to Becky!" Claire McCallister called out.

He paused for a second, then grabbed his orange backpack, slinging it over his shoulders in one smooth move. He glanced at Becky and caught her eye, causing her to start then look away. Her face became pink with embarrassment. "Ah, well, I have to go now…" he said uneasily. He turned to leave, but paused in the doorway. She tensed, anticipating some egotistical speech, but he merely muttered, "See you tomorrow, Becky."

"Y…Yeah…" she managed to stutter and rubbed her arm nervously.

A devilish smirk formed on his face. "Try not to miss me too much, hm? But, as they say, 'Absence makes the heart grow fonder', so it may be a tad difficult."

She wrinkled her nose and refuted, "They also say, 'Familiarity breeds contempt'."

"Except when _I'm_ around," he added, his smirk growing.

"_Especially_ when you're around..." Becky corrected with a deep scowl.

He furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to retort something when his mother shouted, "Theodore McCallister the Third! Now!"

Tobey jumped a little, which amused the superheroine. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses to regain composure. "Ah yes, well, goodbye then, _WordGirl_," he taunted as he left. He waved behind him casually, strolling down the stairs as if he had all the time in the world.

She ran down after him. "I'm not—" She was cut off when the front door slammed behind him. "WordGirl..." she muttered awkwardly. Becky frowned and let out a frustrated cry before stomping back upstairs to her room.

She glared out her window to her driveway, where she spotted Mrs. McCallister's car parked on the side. Unfortunately for her, she caught Tobey's eye and he blinked in surprise. This quickly morphed into an entertained smirk and he winked at her like a celebrity feigning generosity to a fan he didn't know. Her eye twitched so, very irritated with him and not knowing what else to do, she shut her eyes tightly and blew a raspberry at him.

When Becky opened her eyes again, she became even more disgruntled that her rival merely laughed at her as the car pulled away. She yelled again, tugging her hair and sputtering incomprehensibly.

Bob waited until this tirade cooled down (which was after about five minutes of unintelligible, enraged comments) before squeaking out something like, "I have something to tell you, but first, what exactly were you two _doing _when I came in?"

Her face felt hot. She knew what her monkey-sidekick was talking about, but she'd rather forget about it than discuss it. "You know…I'm not sure myself…. It kinda just...happened…." Well it was _true; _she really had no idea how in the world Tobey had ended up so close to her face without her noticing. Sure, she'd been the one to grab him first, but she hadn't expected him to turn around and _flirt_ with her.

He raised an eyebrow, obviously dissatisfied with the answer. He chirped a few times, which she mentally translated as, "Just…happened? If that kid does anything like that to you again, I'm gonna…." He paused and scratched his head, trying to think of a devious way to finish his threat. "Gonna…throw his glasses and remote off a building!" He puffed his chest out to assert that he would follow up on that promise.

The thought made the superheroine smile. Then, she recalled why her best friend left her alone with Tobey in the first place. "Oh! So, how'd it go with Doctor Two-Brains? It wasn't too tough for you to handle, right?" she asked nervously.

Bob scowled when he remembered that Tobey's robot held him hostage for a while and recounted the events to her, mentioning that Doctor Two-Brains had come out of the convention center with no cheese and an unusual desire to help him out by disassembling the idle robot that held him captive.

She blinked at the news. "Why would he do _that_?" she wondered, confused on what _possible_ motive the evil doctor could have for coming to Captain Huggyface's aid.

The monkey shrugged but chirped several times, saying something about how the villain kept grumbling about goat cheese and dumb kids.

"Huh…. Well, I'll be sure to thank him later, I guess…." She shook her head. "Wait, did you say Tobey's robot just _held _you? It didn't try to destroy the city or anything?"

He shook his head. "I didn't see any other robots either. It was weird."

"That _is_ weird…" she muttered. She glanced up at the ceiling and questioned shyly, "Is there any chance you could, you know, give us a hint?"

"Uh…no," the Narrator replied smoothly.

"Aw, why not?" She knew she sounded whiny, but honestly, she was tired and had no desire to think any more about Tobey. Spending a few hours with him was more than enough.

"Because the episode's not fun to watch if I just give everything away! You should know, you hate spoilers before you read a book," he stated. If anyone could see the Narrator, he would be nodding in a huff.

"B-But it's _my_ show!" she protested, staring up at him with huge puppy-dog eyes.

He hesitated for a second before sighing in defeat. "Oh, how can I resist that face? Geez, you're really getting spoiled right now, you know that?"

Becky giggled. "Yeah, I know," she said coyly.

"Well, I'll just say that that robot had something to do with Tobey suspecting you as WordGirl…."

"Wait, what? How?" the superheroine wondered, furrowing her eyebrows. She and Bob glanced at each other, shrugging in confusion.

"I can't tell you more!" Quick thinking saved him from more puppy-dog faces. "I-I mean, you wouldn't want your fans to get bored with your show, right? Spoilers are the fastest way to lose fans' interest."

She pursed her lips at this but grumbled, "Well…yeah, that makes sense…. I guess I can try to figure it out on my own…."

"That's the spirit!" he shouted eagerly. After a short pause, he added, "Now, do you want me to answer that question you had yesterday?"

Becky stared up at him blankly. "What question?"

"So you don't remember. Good! I don't either!"

"Um, okay?"

The Narrator laughed. "Sorry."

Just as she was about to strike up another topic of friendly conversation, she caught the sound of the bank's alarm ringing and the Butcher's voice saying, "Aw, now why'd ya have to go and do that? Now WordGirl's gonna show up and arrest me! I am so disgunktled with ya. Hey, you like that? Yeah, I learned that from WordGirl a while back. Sounds elokent, right?"

"Ugh! It's the Butcher again! And he pronounced two words wrong!" The superheroine sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with irritation.

Bob rolled his eyes and changed into his Captain Huggyface uniform quickly. He tugged at her skirt with a somewhat resigned expression. "Yeah, I know, I know." She glanced up at her ceiling and said, "Sorry to cut our conversation short, but I gotta take care of this before it gets out-of-hand…."

"Nah, it's okay. I was just about to marathon through some shows I need to catch up on anyway," the Narrator replied cheerfully.

She nodded once at him then put two fingers on her chest. A confident smile graced her features as she shouted an enthusiastic, "Word up!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So this was a pretty long chapter…. In my other fics, I'm starting to become notorious for it. **

**Anyway, if any of you guys play video games, that "Rainbow" item in Becky's game was sort of a **_**Pretty Princess**_** parody of, say, a potion or other healing item. I felt the need to explain that just in case some of you didn't get it….**

**On a tangent, when you guys were little kids, have you ever experienced your parents trying to make you talk to that one other kid you saw as your sworn enemy (for, like, stupid reasons, like that person took your favorite toy or whatever, and you feel like you can never forgive that person for taking your toy) and you absolutely hated it? You know, that "why-are-you-making-me-do-this-Mom-I-really-hate-this-guy" type feeling that you feel your parent **_**should've **_**got because they're adults, and you've seen them totally hate on people before too, so they should understand? Um…well, that's sort of the feeling I wanted to convey here with Tobey and Becky about the play-date….**


	4. Everybody Talks Too Much

**A/N: Thanks to guest reviewers Guest13, Dark eyes, and especially FluffyKitten for their awesome reviews for last chapter! You readers seriously flattered me with your nice words!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Four:<strong>

**Everybody Talks…Too Much**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**mortified**_** and **_**gossip**_**)**

"Last time on _WordGirl_, Tobey concocted an absolutely diabolical plan to test if Becky really _was _our favorite plucky superheroine! And, I hate to say it, but it was ingenious! I mean, if it worked out the way he wanted, he would've actually _won_ for once! Can you believe that?!" the Narrator shouted, as if even _he _couldn't believe it. "I mean, I'm the _only_ person on this show that gets a script, and I read it beforehand, but still! Reading something and watching it happen are two very different experiences!"

He sighed and took several deep breaths. "Ahem…sorry about that…. It's just…this show is so great, I can't help it…. Anyway…."

He cleared his throat. "We begin with Becky, Violet, and Bob walking to school on this quiet Monday morning—"

"And you know what he did after I grabbed his arm?!" Becky yelled, cutting off the Narrator.

"Did I say quiet? I take that back…" he muttered.

She looked up, her eyes wide with surprise. "Oh, sorry…."

"No, no, it's fine. I wasn't paying attention when I started narrating. I should've picked a better time…. Now, what were you talking about?"

"Oh, I was just telling Violet about that weird play-date I had with Tobey yesterday…" she explained and made a face at the memory.

"Hm, well, go on then. I don't narrate much in this episode anyway…."

"Oh, well, thanks." She cleared her throat and looked back at Violet. "Now, where was I?"

Violet put a finger to her chin and scrunched her eyebrows together. "Hm…I think…you grabbed his arm because he wondered if he could overhear something embarrassing about you?"

The superheroine rolled her eyes "Ugh, yeah! The nerve of that guy! Geez! And after that—"

"Becky, other than wanting to hear an embarrassing story about you, he didn't really do anything bad…" her friend said, a small frown on her face.

Becky hesitated, glancing down at Bob. He shook his head at her for about the millionth time that morning. She had been longing to tell Violet about her ordeal since yesterday, but, as Bob had pointed out many times, she was _not_ to say _anything_ about Tobey being at their house because he suspected she was WordGirl. If she blurted _that_ out, who was to say that Violet, slow as she was, wouldn't put two-and-two together and figure out that the irritating boy genius was actually on to something?

She sighed in frustration. Did Tobey _know_ how difficult he made it just to merely _talk_ about this? "Well, maybe I'm over-exaggerating a little bit, but, c'mon, he's _really_ aggravating! Like, after I grabbed his arm to stop him, you know what he decides to do?! He turns around and _flirts_ with me! Where did that come from?!"

Violet's eyes widened and she covered her gasp with a hand. "_Really_?" She then furrowed her eyebrows, confused. "…Wait…I thought he liked WordGirl…."

She gripped her backpack straps tighter in her hands. "I don't know…. Maybe he's just weird…."

Bob squeaked in agreement.

The young artist shrugged and suggested, "Well, if it bothers you this much, maybe you should talk to him about it. Tell him that you appreciate the compliment, but you don't think of him, well, _that_ way…."

Becky glanced at her best friend, bewildered. "Violet, sometimes you're _way_ too nice…."

Violet beamed at her, mistaking her words for a compliment. "Thanks, Becky! You're great, too!"

"Uh…thanks…. Anyway, I don't _want_ to talk to that pretentious jerk. I'm mortified enough as it is…" the plucky superheroine grumbled, her features twisting into a scowl.

Her friend tilted her head again. "Mor…ti…fied?" she repeated and put her finger to her chin in thought.

Becky nodded. "Yeah, _mortified_. It means to feel humiliated or deeply ashamed. Like how I'd be _mortified_ to see Tobey today because he flirted with me." She shuddered. "Yuck."

"Oh, I see…. _Mortified_…" Violet muttered, as if to test how the word sounded when she said it.

They opened the doors to the school and instantly spotted Scoops gathering things from his locker. Becky straightened and felt her heart flutter a little in her chest when he looked over and waved.

"Hey, Scoops! Hi!" she yelled, flailing wildly.

Violet merely smiled at him and greeted, "Good morning, Scoops. How are you today?"

The reporter grinned, and Becky thought he did so because of her. But, of course, the thought had to be ruined when he said, "Good morning, Violet! I feel okay today. What about you?"

"I'm fine. Thank you for asking," she replied, her tiny smile growing.

Becky cleared her throat and her two friends turned their attention to her. "Hey, Scoops. My morning has been _lovely_ so far. Thank you for asking!" she exclaimed as she clasped her hands together.

He looked confused. "…But I didn't ask…" he replied with a frown.

She rolled her eyes. "I was being…sarcastic…" she grumbled and looked away, deflated.

Just then, the door burst open and the group turned around to see who it was. Becky blinked several times in surprise when she saw it was Tobey. The arrogant smirk on his face irritated her, so she looked away with a scowl. She hoped he hadn't seen her yet and tried sneaking away, but her luck would not have it.

"Ah, Becky Botsford! How lovely to see you on this _fine_ morning…. I hope you haven't been missing me _too_ much after the nice time we had yesterday…" he greeted smugly, causing her to flinch and stop walking.

His voice echoed in the hallway, so she couldn't pretend she hadn't heard him. Who knew how many onlookers this attracted…? Tobey rarely talked to _anyone_, and even when he _did_, she wasn't sure her fellow classmates could detect the sarcasm in his words. Heck, they couldn't catch it when _she_ used sarcasm, and she wasn't even really that _good_ at it. Not to mention that last bit implied something a little…well…romantic….

Becky knew he wanted to create a scene just to rile her up, so she decided to remove herself from a potentially mortifying situation. She looked up and felt overwhelmed to see nearly everyone's eyes on her. Her face flushed and she hastily pushed through the crowd, her gaze entirely focused on the floor.

She accidentally bumped into someone, but, in her mad scramble to escape, Becky hardly noticed this. This particular person glared at her as she walked past then yelled, "Well, _excuse_ you, Beck-face! You bump into the _best _person in this school, and you don't even apologize? _So_ not the best…."

Victoria Best turned around and smirked at the crowd, which she mistakenly thought had parted for her. "See? Everyone _else_ gets how _the best_ I am!" she yelled over her shoulder.

She faced forward again and noticed Tobey, Scoops, and Violet staring past her incredulously. Violet then turned to glare at the boy genius and scolded in a stern tone, "Becky doesn't want to see you right now, Tobey! So leave her alone!" She huffed at him then followed after her friend with her head held high. Bob squeaked at him angrily and trailed behind her.

Everyone's jaws dropped and they immediately began talking in hushed whispers. Violet never talked that way to _anyone_, even if they really deserved it. So, if she was doing so now, they figured it must be _very_ serious.

Scoops shook his head and ran after the two girls. "Violet! Becky! Wait! What just happened?!" he yelled as he barreled through the other students.

Tobey blinked and adjusted his glasses on his face. "What on earth…" he muttered but quickly shook it off. He shrugged and headed off to class, not caring about the large amass of children that suddenly gathered out in the hallway.

The gears turned rapidly in Victoria's head and ultimately led her to the best conclusion she could think of about the events that just transpired: Becky and Tobey were _dating_. But Tobey must have done something wrong, like forgotten their one-month anniversary or something, and upset her, so she wanted to avoid him all day as payback.

She nodded and decided, since she _was _the best at helping people out, even if she didn't particularly like them, she'd tell everyone in their class about this so Becky could extract an appropriate revenge from the boy genius who broke her heart.

Victoria Best walked off, proud that she figured all that out in just a few seconds. _What more could you expect from the best?_ she thought to herself.

"Oh boy…. Victoria Best isn't just 'the best' at coming up with the wrong answer…she's _also_ going to be the best at causing drama…." The Narrator sighed heavily. "Well, let's just see how this plays out…."

* * *

><p>"At recess, Becky, Bob, and Violet are sitting under the shade of a tree. Violet has been quietly listening as our favorite word-defining superhero continues to rant for the past…oh…ten minutes now?" The Narrator wondered. "Honestly, I've lost track of how long it's been…."<p>

Bob glanced up and squeaked wearily, spreading his hands out.

"So, I'm gonna say…for a while now…" The Narrator muttered and let out a sigh as he continued to listen reluctantly to the raging girl.

"…Then he left and I was just so…_infuriated_ with him! I mean…." Becky paused, finally at a loss for words. "Ugh…" she grumbled instead.

Violet patted her friend's shoulder sympathetically. "It's okay, Becky. I'll make sure you won't be mortified by him anymore. At school, at least," she affirmed with a smile.

The superheroine grinned. "Nice use of the word."

The blonde merely nodded then settled back against the tree. As she glanced back at the playground, she noticed something rather…odd. Most of the girls were huddled together, whispering in heated tones. Occasionally, one or two of them would peek around the group to stare at Becky then go back to their hushed conversation.

She raised an eyebrow, but, before she could inform her friend of this strange event, the horde of girls rushed over and practically surrounded them. Becky looked around, confused, when one girl spoke up, "Hey, Becky, we just want to let you know…we're on your side on this, okay?"

"Wha…What are you talking about?" the dark-haired girl wondered.

One of the other girls crouched down and clasped her hands in hers. "It's alright…. You don't have to pretend you're not sad for us…." She turned her head to the left and pointed at something in the distance. The girl narrowed her eyes and growled, "We know it's all because of _him_."

The two friends glanced at each other then at the area their classmate was pointing at. Becky grimaced when she saw they were pointing at Tobey, who sat scribbling in his notebook, oblivious to all of this.

"Ugh, what _about_ him?" she asked, removing her hands from the other girl's.

A familiar face broke through the crowd suddenly with an overzealous wave. The superheroine held back the urge to sigh. "Oh, I'll take care of him fo' you, my bestest-westest fwiend Becky-Wecky! That way, he won't _eva_ twy to bweak yo' heawt again!" Eileen shouted with a vigorous nod.

The group of girls from their class stared in awe as Eileen rolled up some imaginary sleeves and stomped over to where the boy genius normally hung out at recess.

"Hey! Mean Tobey-Wobey!" she called out, and the boy genius looked up with a start. He held his notebook closer to his chest, but, when he realized it was only Eileen, he relaxed and set it aside.

"Oh, it's just you. What do you want, Eileen?" he asked as he adjusted his glasses.

The red-haired girl put her hands on her cheeks and tried to act cute. "Since it's my birfday—"

Tobey snorted. "You say that _every _day…" he said with a roll of his eyes.

Eileen dropped her hands and her eyes widened. "But it _is_, Tobey-Wobey!"

He made a face at the baby-like nickname he was just given, but knew if he wanted to be rid of her, it was best to let her have her piece and be done with it. "Never mind that. Just tell me what you want," he snapped, glancing impatiently at his notebook.

"I want you to say sowwy to Becky-Wecky!" she ordered and pointed behind her. Tobey raised an eyebrow and looked past the greedy girl only to see Becky slap a hand to her face.

He chuckled at the sight and returned his gaze to Eileen. "Why would I do _that_? I didn't _do_ anything…." _That you know of…_he thought with a casual smile.

"What? But Victowia-Wowia told me you used to be Becky-Wecky's bestest-westest fwiend in the whowe wide wowd! Then yesterday, you said you didn't wanna be hew fwiend anymow!" she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

After deciphering through her baby-talk speech, he laughed. "Me? Friends with that fool? Ha! I don't know where Victoria gets the gall to gossip about me in that regard. Becky is nothing special to me, I assure you. She never has been, or ever will be."

Eileen tilted her head and asked, putting a finger to her chin, "What's gossip?"

He stared at her incredulously. "_Really_? You _really_ don't know what gossip means?"

Suddenly, the bell rang and Eileen turned around. "Oh! Neva mind, Tobey-Wobey! You don't have ta esplain it! But you betta say sowwy to Becky-Wecky, or I'm gonna be vewy sad!"

As she skipped away, Tobey picked up his notebook, grumbling about wasted time. "Victoria, hm? Why would she gossip about such an appalling topic? Unless…." His eyes widened. "Unless Botsford told her about yesterday! Of course! This must be some sort of revenge for what I did!"

He frowned at the thought. "Ugh, what a _childish_ response…. Clearly not a savvy move, on her part. Though why would Becky Botsford stoop so low as to _gossip_ about me?"

He put a hand to his temple trying to comprehend this. After a few seconds, he sighed and muttered, "Ugh, I can't understand the imbecilic mind…. I suppose I'll have to ask her about it…."

He entered the classroom and saw her talking to Violet, as usual. He thought about approaching her and feigning ignorance of the matter to get her to slip up, but, unfortunately for him, Miss Davis noticed him standing there.

"Oh, Tobey! Do you think you can help me pass these papers back? I just finished grading them all, and a lot of students have been wondering what they got…" she said with a friendly smile.

He started to back away nervously. "Oh, um…."

"Thanks!" she shouted without hearing his answer and dumped a large stack of papers in his arms. He could just barely see over the top of the stack.

Miss Davis walked back to her desk with an oblivious smile on her face. The boy genius scowled as he began passing out papers. He glared over at Becky and growled "After school, Botsford…."

* * *

><p>"Later, after school…" the Narrator announced. "Boy, do I forward the plot or what?" he asked of no one in particular.<p>

"So, Bob. I need you to go home and tell Mom and Dad that I'll be running late, okay? Just say there's a…Debate Club meeting or something that came up all of a sudden," Becky ordered her monkey-sidekick.

Bob frowned. "I still think I should stay with you…" he grumbled, though only she could understand his squeaks.

She sighed wearily. "I'll be fine, Bob. It's only Tobey, after all."

His frown deepened. "Your parents don't understand me when I talk though…." He knew he was losing the argument, but he couldn't help but be stubborn about this.

"Then have T.J. translate for you. C'mon, Bob. I don't want them worrying."

The monkey crossed his arms and chirped warily, "I don't see why I can't help. I mean, what if he pulls his robots out on you? I can at least create a distraction while you turn into WordGirl…."

"I _have_ to take care of this on my own. Otherwise, even more mortifying gossip might go around school, and it'll all be because of Tobey's persistence in getting me to admit that I'm WordGirl," she explained, her expression souring at the thought.

Bob raised an eyebrow. He chirped once, which she understood as, "Gossip?"

She blinked in surprise. "Oh, when you _gossip_ about someone, you talk about them. Usually, they aren't nice things and are completely false. Like today, people were _gossiping_ about how I'm in a relationship with Tobey, even though I am most definitely _not_." She shuddered and stuck out her tongue. "Ew."

Bob made a face at this too. "Gross…" he agreed.

The superheroine smirked and patted his head affectionately. He smiled back at her before it quickly faded. He stared up at her nervously before sighing and walking towards the school's front doors. He chirped a couple of times, which she translated as: "Bye…. Good luck."

"Thanks, Bob…" she said as he closed the doors behind him.

Her super-hearing picked up angry stomping quickly approaching. From the furious muttering about fools, she knew that it was exactly the aggravating boy genius she wanted to see. Well, perhaps that was an overstatement….

She whirled around just as he rounded the corner. Rather than his usual, superior front, he looked tense, like a bubble about to burst. She began marching up to him, unafraid.

"Botsford!" Tobey growled as soon as he saw her.

"Tobey!" she yelled at about the same time as he called her.

"You better _explain_ yourself—"

"Tobey, you exasperating, lying scoundrel—"

"_Why are you gossiping about me_?!" they roared in each other's faces.

The both of them blinked and took a step back. They stared at each other in bewilderment until Becky snapped out of it, shaking her head. "Don't play dumb, Tobey! I know _you're _the one spreading these weird rumors about you and me! Ugh I am _so sick _of—"

"_Me_?! A gossip?! Theodore McCallister the Third does not waste time spreading rumors!" he cut in with a stomp of his foot. "Besides, it was probably _you_ who said something implying we were in a relationship, and our imbecilic classmates took something out of context!"

She scowled and took several threatening steps toward him. "You're saying that this is somehow _my fault_?! _You _were the one who mentioned how we spent time together yesterday _in front of the entire school_!" she shrieked, jabbing his chest twice.

"It was a mere _play_-date! Not a _date_-date! I tried explaining it to those _fools_ earlier, but—"

"Oh, you _tried_, huh? By what? Insulting their intelligence and boasting about how 'superior' your own is?" she taunted, quoting with her fingers.

The boy genius glared at her heatedly and leaned forward in an attempt to frighten her. "Oh, Botsford, I am so_ tired_ of you mocking me, day in and day out, even if I act genuinely nice to you! Well, I've had _enough_!"

Suddenly, someone's laughter boomed in the hallway and the two children nearly jumped out of their skins. Tobey twisted around, wide-eyed, only to spot Victoria Best stroll around the corner.

"Victoria?" Becky wondered curiously.

The blonde girl wiped a tear from her eye. "That was _so_ the best! Wow, I did _not_ think helping out Becky with her relationship problems would result in this cute lovers' spat." She smirked at their expressions.

"Wait, what?!" the superheroine shrieked incredulously. "_Relationship problems_? What on earth are you _talking _about?"

Victoria looked confused for a second before melding back into a smug façade. "C'mon, Beck-face—"

"It's _Becky_," she cut in with irritation, crossing her arms.

"Whatever." The self-proclaimed "best" person in the school waved at her dismissively. "Anyway, I'm _talking_ about this morning. Violet yelled at Four-Eyes over there—"

"_Four-Eyes?!_" Tobey screeched, incensed. "Why, I never—"

She put her hands on her hips and interrupted, "Ex -_cuse_ me. I was having a conversation with Beck-face. Move out of the way." She gestured for him to step aside.

He stiffened in shock, his jaw dropping. His mouth worked to come up with some snarky response or another, but he was much too livid to speak coherently.

Victoria raised an eyebrow at this then focused her attention back to Becky. "So, Beck-face, I heard Violet shouting that you didn't want to see Four-Eyes anymore, so I figured, since I _am_ the best at figuring things out, you two were having relationship issues. So, obviously, I'm the _best_ person to help you fix them."

"Fix?! There's nothing _to_ fix, Victoria!" Becky shouted, throwing her hands into the air. "Tobey and I aren't even friends, let alone…_dating_." She spat out the word with as much disdain as she could muster.

Victoria's eyes widened. "_Really_?"

The superheroine sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, completely exasperated with all of this. "_Yes_. In fact, we _despise_ each other."

The blonde girl smirked. "Wow…." At first, Becky thought she understood and would leave it at that, maybe even apologize, but she had to spoil it by adding, "I'm the best at causing drama without even knowing it! Ha, I'm _so_ the best at everything!"

"The only thing _you'll_ be the best at after this is being _destroyed_!" Tobey's voice rang out in the hall, startling the two girls. Becky stiffened when she saw the remote in his hand. Just as he was about to push a button, she rushed over and snatched the device right from under him.

Tobey looked down in surprise then twisted back to her. "Becky! Give it back!" He tried to sound demanding, but, to her, he just sounded whiny.

"No!" She stuck out her tongue at him as she held the remote behind her. Each time he made an attempt to grab it, she merely dodged it, a habit from all her battles with the city's villains. Though, it was _much_ easier to evade Tobey than most other villains, especially since she could see that he was overexerting himself to catch her.

He narrowed his eyes and made a feint left, which she fell for. He almost smiled when he caught her shoulder as she darted right into it. She seemed taken aback by this since he felt her tense under his hand.

Tobey's face was flushed and the superheroine made a face as he leaned closer to her. "Stop…_moving_…" he commanded breathlessly.

Victoria then burst out laughing. The two glared over at her, thoroughly annoyed. "You know…" she informed them between laughs, "…if you keep…acting like _that_ around each other…it won't just be _me_ gossiping about you two being a thing. Geez…I mean, _look_ at you two! You fight like an old married couple!" This comment made her laugh even harder and she headed towards the exit.

Becky blushed and looked away. Taking advantage of her embarrassment, the boy genius reached around her and grabbed his remote back. "Thank _you_," he said sarcastically then pressed a button with a satisfied smirk.

Just as Victoria reached the front doors of the school, a large, metallic hand slammed down in front of them. She shrieked, taking a few panicked steps back.

The superheroine frowned and quickly seized the remote again. "Hey!" he yelled and reached to grab it back. She pushed him away with a hand and held the device behind her.

He sighed in defeat. "Botsford! Give it back!" he whined, too tired to even attempt getting it back anymore.

"No! Tell me which button moves the robot's hand so we can leave!" she demanded, her eyes gleaming with anger. She had had enough of this ridiculousness for a while.

Tobey turned away with a pout and crossed his arms. "I don't have to tell you anything!" he responded childishly.

"Ugh! Of course you won't…." She rolled her eyes and glanced down at the remote again. All the buttons looked the same, save for the large one at the bottom.

"Let's try…this one…." She reluctantly pressed the pink button and looked up, hoping she had picked the right one.

The robot's hand rose out of the way and she smiled victoriously. Victoria glanced back at her reluctantly and grumbled, "Thanks…Beck-face."

Becky sighed at the nickname. "Yeah, yeah, you're welcome…."

The blonde smirked then turned to leave. Just as she approached the doors, the ground started to rumble and Victoria clutched onto the handles to keep her balance. She looked outside and her eyes widened. "Why is that robot _dancing_?" she asked incredulously.

The superheroine frowned and pushed another button. The rumbling stopped momentarily before starting up again. This time, the trembling was worse. "It's _stomping_ now!" Victoria yelled. "Beck-face, what are you _doing_?!"

"I'm _trying_ to get it to stop! How am I supposed to know what button does what? I didn't build this thing!" She shot an accusatory glare at Tobey before pushing another random button.

"Give it here! For goodness' sake, you're making my robut look foolish!" he ordered, stretching out a hand to her.

Before Becky could make a decision on what to do, they heard the doors open. They whipped their heads over in surprise, only to see Victoria pull out her recorder and begin playing. Pink music notes swirled out of it and headed straight for the robot.

This proved ineffective, however. The robot continued doing jumping jacks while its head whirred in place. She lowered her arms and wondered, "What? Why isn't it working?"

"Ah, that won't work on my robuts anymore, Victoria. I fixed that little bug so you can't hack into them with that silly, little instrument of yours," the boy genius informed her smugly.

She whirled around angrily. "Well, fine. I'll just have to use it on _you_ _two _then, so I can take that remote and get out of here." She put the recorder to her lips and—

"Wait!" Becky shouted. Startled, she did just that. "If you do that, you won't know what button to press so you can leave." It was pretty lame, but it was the first thing that popped into her head.

The blonde girl scoffed. "I can just push all the buttons. It'll stop eventually," she reasoned.

Tobey rolled his eyes. "Please, that won't help. If you do _that_, the robut will get confused with all the orders you input and malfunction, which will result in us staying here _longer_ because of your impatience…."

She frowned at this but stuffed her recorder back in her bag. "Beck-face," she called out, looking over at her. "Give him the remote…."

Becky clutched the remote closer to her and glanced at him warily. "Promise you won't try anything first."

The boy genius raised an eyebrow. "Fine. I won't try anything…. I'm not up for it anymore anyway, but believe me, I _am_ tempted to destroy her…."

He reached for the remote, but she held it away. "Cross your heart."

He was taken aback but decided to go along with her demand. He brought his left hand up and gestured an "x" across his chest with the other. "Cross my heart, I won't destroy her…. Happy now?" He held his hand out impatiently.

Becky hesitated for a moment then placed the remote carefully in his outstretched hand. He turned back to Victoria and said, "Before I let you go, I need you to promise _me_ that you'll tell everyone at school tomorrow that those rumors you spread were completely _false_."

The superheroine stared at him. Who knew he could be decent sometimes?

Victoria scowled. "You want me to cross my heart too?" she questioned sarcastically.

He set his jaw. In a clipped tone, he said, "No. But I _do_ expect you to do what I said."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, I promise. I _am_ the best, you know, so everyone's gonna believe me when I take it back…."

The boy genius smiled. "Good. Now, since I've had my fair share of mortifying moments today, I want to hear you say that you aren't the best at everything. A fitting retribution, no?"

"_What_?!" Victoria screeched furiously.

"Tobey, leave her alone," the superheroine piped up, and the two stared at her, astonished.

"Why? How can you defend this insolent fool when she spread these…unsavory rumors about you?" he demanded, whirling to face her.

Becky put her hands on her hips. "While we may not like what she's done, we can't stoop down to her level for revenge. We have to be the bigger people and let it go."

The boy genius wrinkled his nose in disgust. Before he could input his opinion, however, the blonde cut in, "So you _admit_ I'm the best!"

Becky scowled. "That's not what I said!" she exclaimed exasperatedly.

Tobey burst out laughing, and Victoria whirled on him, infuriated. He pushed a combination of buttons and the ground stopped shaking. He waved her away with a smirk. "You wanted to leave, correct?" he asked, stuffing his remote back in his pocket.

She sputtered incoherently before crying out in frustration and twisting on her heel. She shoved the school's front doors open and stomped out.

He chuckled and shook his head. "What a sore loser. She's certainly not 'the best' at exiting gracefully…."

Becky hesitantly went up to him and tapped his shoulder. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Thank you…" she blurted out before she could even think of backing out of it. In response to his puzzled stare, she added, "For earlier…."

"You mean the whole 'Victoria is not the best' taunt?" he wondered. "But…I thought—"

She shook her head. "No, for getting her to take back those mortifying rumors. I suppose you can be nice when you want to be."

He scoffed. "Oh _please_. I didn't do it for _you_. It was for my own peace of mind. I mean, people make fun of us _enough_ behind our backs. I don't want to hear them talking about the two of us as one item, if you know what I mean…."

Becky was appalled. "You think our classmates make fun of us? Why would they do _that_? If they do talk about you or me, then maybe they're just curious about us. We don't converse with them that often, so how are we to know?"

He scowled. "You're _so_ naïve, Becky. Either that, or you just choose not to pay attention. I've _heard_ those fools talk about me. Most of the time, I'm not held in very high regard, which is to be expected, but it's still aggravating. Dull people don't know how to mind their own business." He shook his head. "And now they want to…to _pair_ me with _you_?" He snorted. "I can't even begin to comprehend the sense in that. They should know by now, _all of them_, that no girl is worthy of a boy genius like _I_."

The superheroine's eyes flashed dangerously. She was much too upset by his words to even correct his grammar. "Oh yeah? What about _WordGirl_? Hm? What do you think about _her_?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, though a faint blush gave away the feelings he was trying to disguise. Realizing that Tobey might wonder why she even asked such a question, and the fact that he might connect this back to her, she mentally cursed herself. How could she let her mouth run so irresponsibly like that? If Bob were here, he would've scolded her then and there.

The boy genius looked away. Maybe he was considering the question; maybe he was just plain embarrassed. She couldn't really tell, but she hoped that it would be the latter option. If he was embarrassed, at least he wouldn't be thinking about her being WordGirl, right?

"Almost…but not quite…" he muttered thoughtfully, his expression far-off.

That did it. "Wow, I can't _believe_ you! Here I go thinking you could actually be nice for once, but you can't even put aside your ego for your crush!"

His blush became more pronounced. "_Me_? Have a crush on _WordGirl_?" He laughed nervously. "Why, I don't know _who_ came up with such a silly notion, but, I assure you, that's just idle gossip." He cleared his throat then looked back at her. "Why would you care about that anyway, Botsford?"

Now it was Becky's face that flushed. "I…I don't!" she denied, her voice rising in pitch.

The boy genius smirked at her. "Well, if you don't care, why bother to ask, hm?" he refuted, delighting in the fact that the tables had turned.

Her eyes searched the floor, as if it would have an answer for her. "…J-Just…curious…" was her lame reply.

"I know why you _would_ care. I mean, you would if you were, hm, I don't know, _WordGirl_?" he wondered with an amused smile.

She glared at him. "I said I _don't_ care, and I'm _not_ WordGirl!"

The boy genius scoffed. "Whatever you say," he muttered sarcastically. He walked off towards the exit, pulling out his remote. She stiffened when he pushed a button and his robot bent down to peer in through the small panes of glass in the doors.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Her eyes flickered from the remote to Tobey to the robot and back again.

He glanced back at her wearily. "I'm going home," he replied as he pushed the front doors open.

The superheroine pointed at the robot near him. "But what is _that_ doing here?"

A small smile played on his lips. "My robut? It's my ride."

He half-expected her to be impressed, but, of course, she had to go and ruin the thought by talking. "Why doesn't your mom pick you up?"

His smile vanished and he faced forward again. "She's always too busy to pick me up after school." Under his breath, he added, "She's too busy to have much of anything to _do_ with me…."

"What?"

This question made him smile. Even though she didn't really like him, and he her, it still felt nice to know that someone…not related to him worried for him. He stepped outside and pushed another button, which made the robot pick him up and place him gently on its shoulder.

Becky darted outside and stared up at him, taken aback. "So, the school _lets_ you have a robot bring you home?" she wondered, cupping her hands over her mouth so he could hear her.

He glanced down. "Of course. I had a permission slip signed."

She wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

"Farewell, Botsford. Until tomorrow, then," he shouted.

He was about to input directions for the robot to take him home when Becky yelled, "Wait!" He was so startled, he nearly dropped the remote.

Tobey looked down at her and asked, not even trying to mask his irritation, "_What_?"

She rubbed her arm nervously and asked, "Can…Can you…give me a ride home?"

He stared at her blankly, so she guessed he hadn't heard her. "Tobey! I need a ride home! I could walk, but I'm late enough as it is."

He continued to stare down at her with wide eyes. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, she sighed and began to stomp away. "You know what? Never mind…."

Suddenly, she couldn't feel the ground underneath her and began kicking out instinctively. Then, she felt herself shoot upwards and screamed. She was then jerked to a stop and looked around wildly.

Her eyes landed on Tobey standing on his robot's shoulder, infuriatingly amused with all of this. "Never been this high up before, I take it?" he wondered then pushed a button on his remote. The robot then placed her gently on its shoulder, patting her head after doing so. She rubbed the back of her head with a frown before glaring back at him. "Though if you _are_ WordGirl, then maybe you have…" he added with a mischievous grin.

She protested tiredly, "_I'm_ _not WordGirl_…." After some debating, she decided to sit down, her feet dangling over the side dangerously.

He chuckled to himself but said no more. He sat down himself and input directions for the robot to take them to Becky's house. The robot took one step, and she immediately felt like she was going to fall. She scrambled back in a panic, hugging her knees to her chest.

She caught the boy genius snickering to himself and shot a glare at him, which he chose to ignore. Normally, she wasn't afraid of heights since she could fly, but…she was with Tobey. She couldn't let him find out that she really _was_ WordGirl. So, for the first time ever, she found that she was afraid of heights.

"Are you alright?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"D-Does i-it l-l-look l-like I'm alr-right?" she stuttered, glowering at him.

He looked down at the ground then back to her. "Look straight ahead rather than down. That's always helped me," he advised, crossing his arms. She gave him an odd look, so he said, "I was once scared of heights too, okay? I've long since figured out how to conquer that fear." He waved at her dismissively.

She took a deep breath and stared straight ahead. Becky found that it was…just like flying, actually. Much slower than her normal super speed, she knew, but…it was nice. She got to actually enjoy the view for once, rather than zooming by it to stop a villain. She must've seen this sight over a thousand times, and it hadn't registered to her how beautiful it all was.

She could see the park not far off, the rows upon rows of suburbs, and, of course, the skyscrapers beyond it. She could see the citizens relaxing. Even some of the villains were just out taking a stroll, talking to one another about normal things, like the rent they had to pay or last night's baseball game. It was incredibly serene.

Becky let out a content sigh and leaned against the robot head, just drinking it all in. So…this was what peace felt like. And all she had to do was slow down to find it. In her hectic life, she knew she would treasure these moments, however fleeting they would be.

"Nice, isn't it?"

Tobey's voice startled her back into reality. She whipped her head over to him with wide eyes, only to find that he was staring out at the city, she guessed, as dreamily as she had.

"Yeah, it is…" she muttered, settling back against the robot's head.

"Sometimes…when my robut takes me home like this…I wonder to myself if…." He paused and his eyebrows furrowed a little bit.

She sat up straight and peeked over at him. "If…what?"

The boy genius smirked, as if the idea he just formed was silly. "If…this is a sight WordGirl sees every day…."

Becky's gaze dropped immediately to her hands. "It isn't…" she muttered. With a sigh, she stared out at the view again.

Unfortunately, Tobey had heard her. "Really?" he wondered, looking over at her. The dreamy gleam had gone from his eyes. "Why would you assume that?" Thinking of something, he added halfheartedly, "Unless you're speaking from experience, of course."

She wrinkled her nose. "Of course I'm not. I mean, haven't _you_ ever thought how busy WordGirl gets? She can't exactly take all of this in when she's rushing over to a crime scene."

He opened his mouth to retort something then shut it when he found there was no insult to be had. "I…suppose that's true…" he said instead. "What a shame. This really is a wonderful view…." He shifted so he could lie on his back, his feet hanging over the side. He put his hands behind his head and just stared up at the clouds.

"It is…" she whispered, almost to herself.

Tobey closed his eyes, enjoying the light breeze on his face, and smiled.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The chapter title is a line from the song "Everybody Talks" by Neon Trees, which is sort of the inspiration for this chapter. **

**On a totally random note, have you readers seen the episode "Cherish is the Word"? Well, if you **_**do**_**, and even if you don't, there's this one part where Miss Davis yells, "Tobey! You had better have a permission slip for those robots!"**

**Which led to this headcanon: Tobey's mom is so busy with work sometimes that she can't pick him up from school. So, she made a deal with the school that if Tobey signs a permission slip for **_**one**_** robot to be on school grounds each month, that robot would be his ride to and from school rather than him having to walk by himself ('cause he's so out-of-shape, he can't even walk all the way to school and back XD).**


	5. Oblivious Connections

**Thanks to anonymous reviewers Guest 13, did not sign in, and Guest.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five:<strong>

**Oblivious Connections**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**thunderstruck **_**and **_**colossal**_**)**

"When we last saw _WordGirl_, Tobey and Becky—"

A high-pitched shriek interrupted the Narrator. "Whoa, wait, what happened?" he wondered, and the camera zoomed down. It focused on a teenage girl standing beside Tobey's robot's foot. Becky glanced down with wide eyes, wondering if its sudden appearance had scared her.

"Oh my gosh, it's _Tobey_!" she screamed, but she didn't seem…frightened…. No, she was more…thunderstruck….

Becky glanced over at him, but he merely smirked. He sat up, pushed two buttons on his remote, and said, "This will only take a moment…." His robot reached up and grabbed the back of his shirt, slowly lowering him down.

The girl rushed over as soon as he got on his feet. She babbled, "Oh my gosh, it's _really_ you! I-I can't believe you're here…in person! I'm such a huge fan, and I—"

It was then that Becky wished she didn't have super-hearing. It was weird listening to someone compliment Tobey so much, especially when she was complimenting him on things he really shouldn't be complimented on, like his "adorable (fake) accent" and how he was "so awesome for creating his (incredibly destructive) robots".

The superheroine watched as the boy genius just stood there with an arrogant smirk on his face, clearly enjoying this. She rolled her eyes and was about to tell him to hurry along, before the girl whipped out a notepad and a "Vote for Tobey" pen—_Where did she get that?!_ Becky wondered, not sure if she should be impressed or baffled—seemingly out of nowhere.

"C-Could I p-please have your autograph?" she asked, ducking her head in embarrassment.

The boy genius chuckled and took the pen out of her hand. "Why, it would be my pleasure." He clicked the pen top and wondered, "So, to whom am I writing this?"

The girl clasped her hands together and said, "Oh! My name's Amy! Can you please write it out to 'my robot-loving friend, Amy'?"

Tobey smirked. "Why, of course. Anything for a fan…" he muttered and quickly scribbled down the requested message, adding "Robots forever." after his signature.

Amy hugged the notepad to her chest with a large grin on her face. "Thank you! I also just want to tell you that you are _by far_ my favorite villain in the city, and I totally ship you and WordGirl!" she yelled excitedly.

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She stuffed the notebook in her bag and turned around. "Bye, Tobey! It was nice meeting you!" she yelled before running off.

As soon as he returned to his robot's right shoulder, Becky asked, "Who _was_ that?"

"That was Amy. Didn't you hear her? She was rather loud—"

"No, I mean…why was she so thunderstruck when she saw you?"

Tobey stared at her. "Thunderstruck?"

Her eyes gleamed at the chance to define a word. "Oh, when someone is thunderstruck, it means that they're really surprised to the point where they're frozen with either excitement or horror. Like how Amy was _thunderstruck_ to see you or how we were both _thunderstruck_ earlier today by Victoria's rumors," she explained happily.

He made a face at this. "I _know_ what thunderstruck means. I was just wondering why you used _that_ word rather than _stunned_ or _astonished_. It's like you're _trying_ to show off your vocabulary…."

She tilted her head. "What's wrong with using different words every now and then? I like to vary my words because I love them so much."

He stared at her curiously. "How long have you loved words?"

The superheroine straightened in excitement. "Oh, for as long as I can remember! I read anything I can get my hands on! My little brother, T.J., thinks I'm weird for reading dictionaries, but I can't help but love reading them! Words are so amazing! In the English language alone, there's _so_ many different ways to say things! Isn't it fascinating?"

Tobey found himself laughing at this, not out of spite, but out of an honest amusement at her enthusiasm.

"What?" she wondered, sounding hurt.

He looked over at her with a faint smile on his face. "You're so passionate about words. More so than anyone I've ever met…. Frankly, it's—"

_Cute._ He stopped talking suddenly, his eyes widening. Was he really about to call Becky Botsford _cute_? For loving words so much? What an insane thought! Becky Botsford was _not_—

"'Exactly like WordGirl', right?" she cut in, making him jump. He glanced over at her again. She glared at him, her arms crossed over her chest, ready to defend herself if need be. He mentally cursed himself when he felt his face heating up.

Well…he could work with that. It would be better than to reveal what he _really_ would have said to her. He forced a smirk and raised his hands in defense. "Why, yes. How ever did you figure _that_ out?" he wondered.

Becky frowned a little. "Hey, there's no need to be sarcastic."

"I find sarcasm fitting to nearly every need, actually. It makes things more interesting."

She found herself giggling in agreement. Becky didn't normally use sarcasm, but she did find it humorous when it was used. She considered it a clever way to use words.

Tobey stiffened in surprise. No one ever laughed at his attempts at jokes before, not even WordGirl. He thought she'd appreciate puns or plays-on-words—

Wait, why was he even thinking this?! He couldn't afford to think of Becky Botsford and WordGirl as two separate people when he felt certain that they weren't. Not when he felt so close to a lead yesterday….

He scowled then, remembering why his plan had failed in the first place….

* * *

><p><em>The boy genius had a smug grin stretched across his face as his mother drove them home. He had gotten the last word in at the play-date, and he felt good knowing he had beaten Becky Botsford in getting the last word. Her shocked expression when he had laughed at her before he left made him feel all the more proud.<em>

_That feeling quickly faded when his mother screamed, "THEODORE MCCALLISTER THE THIRD!"_

_He shrunk away instantly and stuttered, "Wh-What is it, M-Mother?" What had he done wrong? It wasn't as if she knew of his plans…._

_Oh…SHOOT._

_His robot lay strewn across the lawn in pieces, as if they were some sort of weird Christmas decorations. One of the robot's legs draped over the driveway, preventing them from entering their garage._

_"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS, YOUNG MAN?!" she yelled, parking their car next to where the robot's head lay._

_He looked around at the wreckage and spotted what looked like a note attached to the robot's head. Luckily, his mother hadn't noticed it yet…. Maybe he could distract her long enough for him to snatch it…._

_"Um…I don't know…." His eyes darted to the note desperately. What did it say…?_

_"You had _better _know! Why is one of your robots in pieces everywhere?! Did you program it to go out and destroy the city while we were at the Botsfords? Or did you somehow manage to slip a remote past me and order it to destroy the city from there?" she interrogated._

_Now, Tobey was used to her yelling at him about things he_did_do, but accusing him of committing a crime he_didn't_was entirely new to him. A wave of anger washed over him. He didn't deserve to be treated this way!_

_"What? You don't believe me?!" He grabbed his backpack from in front of him and dumped out the contents of his bag. The game snapped in half, scattering little robots everywhere. "That's all I brought over there, Mom! No remote, nothing! Just this stupid board game I made that doesn't have anything but blinking lights and sounds! I said I don't know what happened! Why can't you believe me?!"_

_Claire McCallister clenched her jaw. Her son hardly ever yelled at her like that. She did want to believe him, she really did, but…._

_She pulled out her cell phone from her purse. "I'm sorry, Tobey, but I don't. The evidence against you is too much. I'm calling the Police Department to make sure."_

_Tobey's eyes widened. He_wasn't_lying. And yet his mother didn't believe him…._

_He scowled and got out of the car, throwing his backpack in his seat in disgust. He stomped towards the house, jamming his hands into his pockets._

_Claire rolled down her window and warned, "Theodore McCallister the Third, you had better watch that attitude of yours! Go to your room!"_

_He paused and glared back at her. "That's where I was going!" he responded in a huff and continued on his way._

_She was appalled. Abandoning the cell phone, she marched right up to him and tugged at his ear sharply. He stumbled back in surprise and looked up at her furiously. "Young man, I will not tolerate a smart mouth! Since when have you ever talked that way?"_

_He rolled his eyes. "Since forever. Not like you'd notice…." Under his breath, he added, "Dad noticed…."_

_She let go of his ear. "And what is_that_supposed to mean? I will not have this kind of talk in my house!"_

_"It means…" he said slowly, curling his hands into fists, "…that I hate to ruin whatever image you have of me, but I've always talked like this. Just not to you."_

_She searched her son's face and found him looking so much like his father in that instance that it hurt. He had that same, fierce shine in his eyes that he had, the one that always pushed her to her limits and challenged her patience._

_"…Go to your room. I have to chat with the police commissioner about this…" she ordered wearily and turned back to the car._

_Tobey glanced at the note on the robot head and snatched it off. It crumpled in his fist. He hurriedly fumbled with the lock and kicked open the door, ignoring the pain shooting up his leg after doing so. He slammed the door behind him then stomped to his room. Frustrated tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he threw open the door._

_He slammed it shut and jerked his blinds closed, leaving the room in darkness. He blinked rapidly to keep the tears from spilling, but this proved ineffective. He removed his glasses and wiped at the drops impatiently with the back of his hand. He tossed the spectacles onto his dresser then fell onto his bed._

_He relaxed his hands long enough to smooth out the note and hold it close to his face so he could see what it said._

Dear Tobey,

Why the heck would you send me to a _Goat-Cheese_ Gallery?! That stuff's disgusting! So, as payback, I dismantled your robot. I don't care if it was part of your evil plan. Have fun putting it back together!

You deserve it,

Doctor Two-Brains

_His insignia was stamped underneath his signature._

_"Wow…. That's harsh…" the Narrator commented, sounding sympathetic._

_Tobey's eyes flashed dangerously and he ripped the note apart. "Shut…_up_," he growled and glared up at his ceiling. More tears stung his eyes. "Leave me alone!"_

_There was no reply to that, so he curled up on his bed, hugging his knees to his chest. He didn't bother wiping at the tears rolling down his face anymore._

_After what felt like hours, he heard his mother call out his name gently before opening his room door. "Tobey?" she repeated._

_He ignored her, pulling his knees closer. "Tobey…I'm sorry for shouting at you like that. There weren't any reports of robot attacks today, so…." She trailed off uncomfortably._

_She sat at the edge of his bed cautiously and he scooted away from her. "Tobey…" she whispered and curled his hair behind his ear. He stiffened but still refused to speak. "I'm so sorry I didn't believe you…. Maybe…it just…malfunctioned, hm?"_

_Silence. Claire McCallister drew her hand away. "How about we get some ice-cream? Hm? How does that sound?" she wondered, attempting to smile, yet failing._

_"…I don't want any…" he mumbled, turning his face into his pillow._

_She looked away, her expression pained. "Oh…okay then…." She got off his bed and headed towards the door. She paused in the doorway and glanced back at him. "Just tell me if you want any later…" she advised and quietly shut the door behind her._

_He shut his eyes. _Stupid Doctor Two-Brains…. This is all _your_ fault. I nearly _had_ WordGirl! If you hadn't been so infuriatingly _picky_ and stolen that stupid cheese, and if WordGirl hadn't shown up, I could've used that to help me prove that Becky was WordGirl! Her monkey-sidekick was gone for so long, I thought…. But what if…? UGH. _He whacked his pillow with a hand._ IDIOT. Why didn't he tell me he hated that kind of cheese?! Why'd he have to go and take my robut apart?! Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ imbecile!

_He repeatedly whacked his pillow in his frustration until he grew tired. The boy genius grabbed his official Walk-and-Talk WordGirl plush toy and squeezed it to his chest, taking comfort in its presence. He pressed its hand and, instead of demanding he buy some ridiculous accessory, it uttered three, simple words. "I love you," it stated softly._

_He pressed it again. "I love you."_

_And again. "I love you."_

_Of course, he had reset the audio function to make it say this, but just hearing that lovely voice speak those words to him gave him a great deal of comfort. He especially needed to hear it now._

_He held the doll out to look at it. "You believe me, don't you?" he asked it desperately and squeezed its hand._

_"I love you."_

_His lips quivered and he hugged the plush tightly to his chest._

* * *

><p>"Tobey?" Becky's voice interrupted his thoughts and he blinked several times.<p>

"Hm? What?" His voice sounded slurred, so he tried again, "Yes?"

She looked uncomfortable for some reason but decided to say what was on her mind. "You're…crying…."

"What?" he wondered, taken aback. His hands flew to his face and he realized that several tears had rolled down. He was thunderstruck for an instant before hastily scrubbing at his face with the backs of his sleeves.

"Ah…it's nothing. Just…allergies. Dust and pollen in the air and whatnot," he declared. He sniffled a little bit and looked away.

It was silent for a moment before she offered gently, "If you want to talk about it, I'll listen…."

He gave a weak laugh. "Talk about what? There's nothing wrong…. Allergies, as I said…." He looked over at her with a fake smile to assure her he was fine, but stopped doing so when he saw the worried expression on her face.

The superheroine shrugged. "If you don't, though, that's fine too…. Just know I'll be here to listen…."

He scoffed, though she could tell it was half-hearted. "Whatever…. As if I'd ever come to _you_ for help for anything…."

"You're not going to make any friends with that attitude…" she muttered and looked straight ahead.

The boy genius snorted and glanced at her again. "And what makes you think I _want_ friends?" he shot back.

She stared at him. "What makes you think you don't?"

"Ooooh. She's got a point," the Narrator cut in, startling him.

"Quiet, you," he grumbled. He then glared at Becky and replied, "What good are other people if they only bring you down? Always nagging at you for petty things, or talking about you behind your back. Even if I did want to interact with anyone else, no one is intelligent enough to keep up with me."

"I am."

He raised an eyebrow. "Even if you were, which I highly doubt, would you really be willing to be friends with me?" he wondered, leaning forward.

The superheroine shrugged. "Why not?"

He frowned and stared down at the cement far below. "Oh, let me see now. What was it? Oh yes, you can't _stand_ me. You think of me as an 'exasperating, lying scoundrel', you're disgusted by my presence, and you mock me _constantly_. Do you honestly expect me to be friends with someone like that?"

She blushed and looked away. "I'm sorry for calling you names…" she mumbled and closed her eyes, ashamed.

"You may be sorry now, but what happens when I get on your nerves again, hm?" he questioned, a bleak grin spreading across his face.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I can't help it when my words run away with me…. I don't even mean them sometimes…they just…." She bit her lip. She wasn't sure what to say without making it sound like an excuse.

"It just comes out sometimes…right?" he finished, looking at her seriously.

Her eyes snapped open and she peeked over at him in surprise. "How did you—"

"Because…" Tobey cut in, "…I do the same thing."

Becky's eyes widened. They stared at each other, as if marveling the newfound similarity between them. So, when the robot came to a sudden halt and the spell was broken, they felt a small flicker of resentment that the trip was over.

"…This is your stop, then…" he whispered and took out his remote. He pushed a couple of buttons and the robot extended a hand to its left shoulder for Becky to step onto.

She walked onto its hand warily then glanced back at him. He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Her eyes flickered from him to her house and back. "Would you…like to stay over for a little while?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest. In response to his bewildered stare, she added, "I mean, until your mom gets home, that is…. You can call her on our house phone, if you want…."

Tobey glanced at his robot, which turned its head to look at him. He pushed a few buttons and the robot lightly set her down. After inputting a few more commands, his robot picked him up and placed him next to her. It straightened and stated, "Powering down…." The red light in the robot's eyes slowly went out and it stood still.

She smiled at him, feeling relieved that he didn't find her request strange and actually glad that he decided to go along with it.

Staring up at the robot, Becky commented, "It certainly is colossal when you stand so close to it…."

He smirked and stuffed his remote in his pocket. "On average, I make them around six stories tall."

"Wow…how much time do you spend building them anyway?" she wondered as they headed towards the front door.

"Oh, well, depending on the robut, it takes anywhere from half an hour to an entire day."

Her eyes widened. "Which robots only take half an hour to build?" she wondered.

"The typical ones I make. I've gotten so used to building them and rebuilding them that I hardly have to think about how to do it anymore," he answered, shrugging nonchalantly.

"That's impressive," she complimented and dug her house key out of her backpack.

He smirked. "But of course. Don't expect anything less from me," he said, running his hand through his hair arrogantly.

She rolled her eyes but found herself smiling. She finally unlocked the door and pushed it open.

T.J. was playing with his official WordGirl toys—_action figures_, she reminded herself—in front of the T.V. when Becky came in. He was about to greet her when he spotted Tobey standing behind her. He gasped and yelled, "Becky! Why is _Tobey_ here?"

The boy genius scowled. "For your information, I—"

"I invited him over," she cut in, throwing a warning look back at him.

T.J. looked appalled. He gestured for his sister to join him on the carpet. She did, kneeling down next to him. "Why the heck would you invite _Tobey_ over to our house? He's a _supervillain_!" he hissed, glaring over at said supervillain, who stood awkwardly in the doorway.

Becky sighed. "Yeah, I know, T.J., but we've both had a trying day and we need time to unwind from it, okay?"

He made a face at this. "Why can't he do that at his own house?" he growled.

She thought back to earlier when she noticed him crying as he thought about…something troubling. It struck a twinge of sympathy in her, and she wanted to help him in any way she could rather than letting him dwell on it at home. "Let's just say you'd be thunderstruck if you knew…."

He glanced up in horror and she held back the urge to smirk. "I don't mean you'll be struck by thunder, T.J. Besides, you can't be struck by thunder! Thunder is the noise that lightning _makes_. You can't be hurt by a _sound_." She giggled and waved dismissively. "Now, a thunder_bolt_ is different. A thunder_bolt_ is—"

Her little brother rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Becky. If I wanted to talk about words, I'd call WordGirl, okay?" He laughed and returned to playing with his toys.

Becky furrowed her eyebrows and frowned, obviously offended. "You don't even have her number!" she shot back.

He shook his head, a cocky smirk growing on his face. "She has _super-hearing,_ Becky. _Duh._ I don't need her number! I can just call her name, and she'll fly over here!" he affirmed confidently.

She crossed her arms and questioned, "And what makes you think an _extremely busy_ superheroine will come rushing over here _just because_ you call her?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm the President of the International WordGirl Fan Club! That makes me, like, her number one fan!"

She rolled her eyes, snorting. "Huh…yeah…. Okay…."

T.J. turned away, his head held high. "You're just jealous that the city's greatest superhero likes _me_ more than _you_!"

She chuckled to herself. "Yeah…_sure_ she does…" she muttered and got up.

"She does!" he argued, making her roll her eyes again.

Becky glanced at Tobey and jerked her thumb behind her. "C'mon. Let's go in my room…." Glancing back at T.J., she added, "At least there won't be any colossal pains _there_."

T.J. managed to look both furious and puzzled at the same time. As the two headed upstairs, he called out, "Mom! Dad! Becky's using big words to make fun of me again!"

The superheroine grumbled to herself. "Ugh, he's so annoying…."

Tobey chuckled at this and she whipped her head over to face him. "What's so funny?"

He shook his head. "Is _that_ what having a sibling is like?" he wondered, incredulous amusement clear on his face.

She furrowed her eyebrows, perplexed. "What do you mean?"

He shrugged, letting a small smile play on his lips. "A combination of thorough aggravation and mutual understanding. It's baffling, really."

Becky made a face. "We don't really _understand_ each other. Like, he'll never _understand_ my love for words, and I'll never _understand_ his belief that WordGirl would do nearly anything for him…. Which she won't."

He raised an eyebrow. "But you accept that aspect of him just like he accepts your passion for words. Isn't that also a form of understanding?" he asked.

She was taken aback by his genuine curiosity. _Are only children always this inquisitive about sibling relationships?_ she wondered. Aloud, she replied, "Well…yeah, that's one definition for understanding, I guess…."

He nodded, a far-off look on his face. "It must be nice…having a sibling…."

They arrived outside her room door, sparing her from having to respond. She turned to him and ordered, "Wait here. I don't want Bob freaking out when he sees you with me. I'll explain the situation to him."

"Um, you won't tell him about…." He faltered and looked away, embarrassed. "About my allergies acting up," he finished and cleared his throat. "Because that was all that was. I just don't want anyone getting the wrong idea…."

She smirked and drew an "x" over her chest. "Cross my heart." She then opened her room door and slipped inside.

* * *

><p>Bob sat up in his hammock. He chirped a few times, which she understood as, "Welcome home, Becky."<p>

She smiled and dropped her backpack by the door, shutting it behind her. "Hi, Bob," she greeted.

He climbed out of his hammock and squeaked once, which she translated to, "So, how'd it go?"

"Fine, but first, I have to tell you something…." The superheroine glanced back at the door.

Sensing something was wrong, the monkey narrowed his eyes. "…What?"

This time, her smile looked more strained. "Um…Tobey's kind of…here."

"WHAT?!" he thundered, making her wince.

She brought up her hands, approaching him slowly to calm him down. "Now, Bob—"

"Why is he here _again_?! I thought you couldn't stand him! There is no _way_ your mom scheduled two play-dates with him in a row! Is he forcing you to do this because he spread those rumors? Weren't you going to make him take it back?!" he roared, absolutely livid.

"Bob, calm down. I'll explain everything, but you have to stop yelling, okay?" she asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.

The monkey took several deep breaths before reluctantly nodding.

She sighed in relief then recounted everything that happened after he had left, leaving out the part where she saw Tobey crying.

Immediately after she finished, he inquired, "How do you know this isn't some trick? He could've _faked_ not knowing and had Victoria do his dirty work for him."

She shook her head. "No, he doesn't even like her. I don't think Tobey would _want_ to cooperate with her for anything."

"Well, then why do you think he's here, hm? Why would he go out of his way to drop you off at home then decide to stay over when he's so obviously tired from the school day?" he wondered, crossing his arms.

She frowned at his attitude. "Because, while he may not know it himself, he wants a friend. And I could be that friend, Bob. It would do him some good, don't you think?" she refuted exasperatedly.

"Maybe. Maybe he is just a lonely, moody kid. But I still wouldn't trust him, Becky. He could just be pretending to want to be friends to get closer to you and have you reveal your secret." He headed towards the door. He paused when he grabbed the knob to look back at her. "Think about it."

As soon as he left, Tobey peeked his head through the door curiously. "Um…what's going on? I could only catch your end of the conversation, and it was rather…." He trailed off uncomfortably. "Er…strange." He looked away quickly, scratching the back of his head in a fit of nerves.

She tilted her head. "Strange? What about it was strange?"

He made a face that said, _Really?_ Aloud, he replied, "You are surprisingly capricious when you want to be, Botsford…."

Her eyebrows shot up, making her appear mildly impressed. "_Capricious,_ huh? It's like you're _trying_ to show off your vocabulary," she teased.

Tobey started to look insulted, but paused when he realized that she was repeating what he had said earlier. He smirked. "What's wrong with using different words every now and then? I like to vary my words because I love them so much."

She smiled, trying to hide it by ducking her head. "Word-for-word, huh?"

"Yes, well…. I…don't have a snappy response to that, actually…" he muttered and found himself blushing. He turned away, shucking off his backpack and tossing it next to hers.

Becky wandered over to her bed, giggling. She sat down and patted next to her. He raised an eyebrow but decided to join her, carefully sitting just far away enough so they wouldn't brush by each other on accident. He felt weird enough being here as it was. Why, it was just yesterday that the two had been exchanging angry banter with one another, and now they were attempting to get to know each other. A remarkable about-face, to say the least.

He tapped his forefingers together nervously and cleared his throat, wondering if they actually had anything to talk about. "So…" he began awkwardly, glancing over at her.

"Um…" she replied, just as awkwardly.

"So, uh, the weather is nice today…" he stated, feeling lame. _What kind of idiot talks about the weather at a time like this?!_ he scolded himself.

"Y-Yeah…it is…" she mumbled, looking around her room for something else to talk about. She spotted a ship in a bottle on top of her desk and recalled something that that girl, Amy, had said earlier.

Steeling her nerve, she blurted out, "So, um…when that girl said that she, um, _ships_ you and WordGirl…what did she mean? I can't make any sense of it from the definitions I know."

He turned to her, bewildered. "You don't know what it means either?" He gave a little sigh in relief. "I thought I was the only one…. I mean, my fans use that word so freely when they approach me, so I feel like I should know what their definition for it is…. But in the dictionary I have at home, it defines the verb _ship_ as 'to transport by ship or other vehicle'." He frowned. "I don't think my fans want WordGirl and I to be shipped off somewhere."

Becky tried not to wince at his grammatical error, but couldn't help but do so anyway. "First off, it's 'I don't think my fans want WordGirl and _me_ to be shipped off somewhere', not 'WordGirl and _I_'. And secondly, I still find it strange that you have _fans_. I mean, you're a villain for crying out loud!" Noticing his irritation, she added, "No offense…." She gave a weak attempt at a laugh.

He raised an eyebrow but decided to let this insult to his pride go. Oh, of course, he was going to get her back for it, but decided to counter her positively, rather than negatively. It was always a joy to see her reactions.

"Well, of course I have fans. They're all girls too. They know just how devilishly handsome and talented I am and can't help themselves." He smoothed his hair back with a hand, smirking.

She snorted and got off her bed, rolling her eyes. She wandered to her bookshelf and grabbed one of the various dictionaries off the middle shelf. Tobey pouted at being ignored but followed after her. He peered over her shoulder as she rapidly flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning them at a pace much too fast for him to consider human. He narrowed his eyes and stared at her warily. It was almost as if…she had super-speed.

Suddenly, she paused at a certain page, trailing her finger down and finally stopping at the word _ship_. She read aloud, "'To put or take on board a ship'…. No…. 'To send or transport by any carrier'…. No…. Oh, here's the informal definition! Let's see….'To send; get rid off'…." Becky scowled and slammed the dictionary shut. "This doesn't make any sense! I mean, Amy clearly meant ship in a positive sense! I know it! But she can't possibly mean that she wants you or WordGirl to go away!" she yelled, throwing her arms in the air.

The boy genius put a hand to his chin in thought. His eyes lit up and he snapped in realization. "Why didn't I think of this before?" he muttered to himself and lightly slapped himself on the forehead. "Of course!" he added mysteriously and wandered over to his backpack.

Becky turned around curiously as he zipped open his backpack and took out something sleek and silver. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "A laptop? When did you get _that_?" The jealousy in her voice was palpable. Here Tobey was with his fancy, new laptop, and she didn't even have a cell phone.

He hefted the device under his arm. "I built it," he replied simply.

Her eyes widened. "You _built_ it?" she repeated.

He deadpanned. "Becky, I build colossal robuts on a daily basis, and you're impressed by the fact that I can build my own laptop?" He shook his head, chuckling. "This is child's play compared to my robuts."

She scratched the back of her neck, embarrassed by her outburst. "Oh…."

He smirked and sat on her bed again. Becky joined him, sitting closer to him than before and staring at his laptop in wonder. He glanced at her with an uncomfortable frown and hunched forward. He turned it on and quickly typed in his password, hoping she had the decency to look away.

Unfortunately for him, she didn't. "Robots4ever? Really?"

The boy genius glared over at her, blushing. "Hey! You weren't supposed to look!" he protested.

She leaned away a little, taken aback. "Why? You didn't tell me I _couldn't _look."

"It's basic computer etiquette!" He sighed and grumbled, "You know what? Never mind. I'll just change my password later." He clicked on his Internet browser.

"So…why are we going on your laptop? We didn't even figure out what that girl meant by 'ship'," she noted.

He sighed. "That's what I was going to search. There must be somewhere on the Internet that has a colloquial definition for 'ship'." He typed in "ship" in his search engine and got immediate results. "Hm…. We could try this _Urban Dictionary_ site," he muttered to himself and clicked on the link.

"'Verb. …_To endorse a romantic relationship_?!" he yelled, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

"_What?!_" she shrieked, equally thunderstruck.

"That…That can't be right…" he muttered and scrolled down. "'To support or endorse a romantic pairing that is not canon in the work in which they appear…." His face grew hot and he quickly closed the window. They stared at his wallpaper of a mecha robot in utter shock.

The Narrator was the first to speak, "So…basically, all your fans want you and WordGirl to get together."

Both of their faces became extremely red as they both started sputtering at once.

"My fans want WordGirl and I—"

"WordGirl and _me_," she corrected without looking up. "And the idea of you two _together_—"

"Why, it's simply ridiculous!" Tobey squeaked unconvincingly. His face was a violent shade of scarlet at this point.

The color on the superheroine's face mirrored his. She laughed nervously. "Yeah, _completely_ ridiculous! I mean, _really_, a superhero and a villain? That would _never_ work!"

His face fell. "Yeah…never…." He hastily faked a scoff. "A-And it's not as if I even _like_ WordGirl in the first place!" he added, waving dismissively.

Becky was about to reply when an earsplitting scream erupted from downstairs. The two glanced each other, thunderstruck, then scrambled to her window. They peered outside curiously, only to find Sally Botsford staring up at Tobey's robot in horror from the front steps.

"Uh-oh…" she muttered and rushed out of her room, the boy genius right behind her.

By the time they got down, Bob and T.J. had gone outside and were also staring at Tobey's robot, looking equally as frightened.

"Mom!" Becky yelled, pushing past her brother and monkey-sidekick to get to her.

Sally turned to her with wide eyes and pointed up at the robot slowly. "B-Becky…. R-Robot…" she stuttered.

"Uh, yeah, Mom…. I can explain this. See, I didn't want you guys to worry about me being late in getting home, so I asked Tobey if he could give me a ride on his colossal robot—"

"C-Colossal?" her mother wondered, slowly turning to face her.

Sensing that she was about to define the word, T.J. extended a hand towards his sister and started, "Becky, don't—"

Too late. "_Colossal _means huge or gigantic. Like how Tobey's six-story tall robot is _colossal_, or how _The Amazing _Colossal _Adventures of WordGirl _is, well, amazing and _colossal_." She put her hands on her hips and winked to no one in particular.

"_Becky,_" T.J. stressed, making her turn around. He shook his head. "_Really_? Not the time."

She glanced at her thunderstruck mother and decided he was right. She bit her lip and pretended to be interested by a speck on the ground, swaying nervously in place.

"THEODORE MCCALLISTER THE THIRD!" a familiar voice shouted and the boy genius tensed.

Claire McCallister had pulled up next to the Botsford house and glared at her son. Tobey instantly shrunk away and gave her a nervous smile. He waved without enthusiasm as he said, his accent gone, "Oh…hi, Mom…. Uh, ha…. Funny story, actually…. Um—"

She got out of the car and towered over the two kids, exuding a menacing aura. "Just _what_ do you think you're doing, young man?!" she yelled, making him shrink back even more.

"I-I was—"

"Mrs. Botsford suffers from severe megalophobia!" she scolded. Involuntarily, Tobey glanced over at Becky, hoping for a definition. She stared back at him, not understanding what he wanted.

Noticing her son's confused expression, she added, "She has a fear of colossal objects. Specifically any…." She trailed off uncomfortably. Clearing her throat, she finished, "Any…destructive things. She's had more than her share of stress in dealing with them."

Claire McCallister gave him a stern look before going to check on her friend. She carefully led her back inside the house, trying to soothe her. T.J. and Bob followed after them. The monkey hesitated at the doorway, glancing back at the two kids warily before heading inside.

Tobey looked down at his trembling hands, knowing that he was in for a lecture soon. "I-I didn't know…. I mean, I suppose I _did_, but…I was…distracted…." He clenched his hands into tight fists and glared over at her. "_You._This was _your _fault! If _you_ hadn't invited me here—"

"_What_?! You didn't have to accept, you know! _You're _the one who made that choice to stay!" she argued, jabbing at his chest. She took a step back and stared at him sadly. "I thought you wanted a friend. Doesn't that count for something? I mean…I could help explain—"

"I don't _want_ your help. Look what your _help_ has done for me. It's gotten me into trouble that I didn't ask for!" He turned away and ranted, "Ugh, you're just like _everyone_ _else_. So simple-minded, always pushing your plans on others, not wanting to _listen—_"

"Then why'd you decide to stay?!" she yelled. She was done with all of this, and she needed an answer from him.

He twisted on his heel, the smirk on his face seemingly harsher than normal. "_Really_, Becky, I thought you were intelligent enough to keep up with me," he taunted and slowly strolled up to her, his hands behind his back. "What reason would I even remotely _want _to get close to you other than to gather evidence that you are indeed WordGirl?"

Her eyes widened and she felt as if he had punctured her lung. There was this colossal ache in her chest and she couldn't breathe.

"Tobey, we're going home now…" his mother announced from behind her, causing her to flinch. His eyes flickered up and his smirk was replaced by a not-so-well-hidden sour expression. She held out her hand to him and commanded, "Give me the remote."

He scowled but dug the remote out of his pocket and handed it to her. She glanced down at it and pressed several buttons. The robot whirred to life then stomped off to their house.

"Now, young man, I know you didn't know about Mrs. Botsford's severe fear, so I'm not going to punish you. Just know that next time you want to come over to their house, you should ask me first. Okay?" she asked. He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. McCallister. _I_ invited him over here. I guess we got so caught up in what we were doing, he forgot to call you about this. It's my fault, not Tobey's," Becky interjected, stepping in between them.

They stared down at her, though the looks she received were very different. Mrs. McCallister looked confused whereas Tobey just seemed detached. Some emotion she couldn't read glimmered in his eyes, but it faded just as quickly as she had noticed it.

"Oh…Tobey, I_—"_

"I'll go to the car," he interrupted and walked off, not even bothering to say anything to Becky. Her gaze dropped to the floor.

"Goodbye, Becky," Claire McCallister said and turned to her car. Seeming to think of something, she paused and added, "And thank you for inviting my son over today. He doesn't have anyone he considers to be a friend, so I'm extremely happy that you are offering to be a friend to him."

Becky felt her heart clench. "You're…You're welcome." Her voice came out strangled.

Her chest felt very hollow, like someone_—_and she was very aware of who that someone was_—_had scooped out everything within her and discarded her without a thought. She had never felt so used in her entire life. So all of that_—_the ride home, the time they spent talking to each other normally for once, his crying—was _fake_?

No, she couldn't believe it. There was no way anyone could fake something like that. So…why did he want himself to seem like a bad guy?

She dared look up at him and caught his eye from the back seat. He had been staring wistfully at her until he noticed she was looking at him. He blinked in surprise then scowled at her. He looked away, his face and ears burning. Soon after, Claire McCallister started up their car and drove away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Amy wasn't really based off of anyone, tbh. **

_**The Amazing Colossal Adventures of WordGirl**_**is the name for the original shorts before it became a show. **

**So…I couldn't find a **_**specific **_**fear for just robots, so I used the closest appropriate phobia, which was a fear of large objects. I think this makes sense for Mrs. Botsford to have this phobia, actually, since she was also afraid of Chuck's Crusher in the episode "You Can't Crush City Hall!".**


	6. Hot and Cold

**A/N: Special thanks to all my reviewers so far! Especially guest reviewers Guest 13, Omgsocool, Guest, and Sutton.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Six:<strong>

**Hot and Cold**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**incensed**_** and **_**capricious**_**)**

"Um…last time on _WordGirl_…." The Narrator trailed off. He wasn't sure if he should introduce this next part since Becky still stood in her driveway, staring after Tobey's car dejectedly.

She glanced up and gave him a weak smile. "Don't stop on my account…" she muttered, her voice cracking a little.

If she could see the Narrator, she would know he was frowning at that moment. "…Are you sure you're okay?" he wondered, sounding concerned.

She nodded too quickly to properly reassure him. "Yeah, of course."

"Well, you should go inside now…" he advised her.

She nodded wearily and indeed headed inside, putting a hand to her head.

When she opened the door, she noticed T.J. and her mother sitting on the couch, her mother staring ahead as if transfixed by something and continuously muttering, "_Robots_…."

T.J. patted her back awkwardly and glanced over at Becky. "Bob says he wants to see you upstairs…" he said and continued to console their mom.

The superheroine turned to the stairs and found them daunting. She knew she could climb them easily, but the prospect of Bob awaiting her in her room for a lecture created what felt like a rock in her chest.

She bit her lip but trudged on, her footsteps feeling heavier the higher she got.

When she finally shuffled into her room, Bob just stared at her. This hurt her more than any of his "I-told-you-so"-type lectures ever did. He didn't yell at her or scold her. He just held that disappointed, sad gaze.

Becky looked away, shutting her door behind her. A million scenarios ran through her mind. She could pretend nothing had happened and fervently hope he would play along until she was ready to talk. She could act cool and brush off his attempts to talk. She could even try skipping talking to him altogether by zooming out her window and flying around the city like she was on a regular patrol.

But she knew that none of those schemes would work out in the long run. She sighed but decided to brave the hardest course. She would tell the truth.

Her gaze dropped to the floor as she wandered over to her bed. She realized as she sat down that Tobey's laptop was still there. The screen was still up on that Urban Dictionary site, making her face flush.

She felt the urge to slam the screen down in utter frustration, but she knew she could very well break it if she did. Which Tobey would only use as more evidence that she was WordGirl….

Bob soon joined her, closing the laptop and moving it aside. "You're going to have to give him his stuff back, you know…" he chirped.

Becky sighed deeply. "I know…." She fell back and stared at the ceiling.

After a short while, she began, "I don't know what to do about him anymore, Bob…. Tobey acts one way, but he feels another way, then he says all these hurtful things to match the way he acts, and it's just so _frustrating_. Why would he subject himself to that kind of inner turmoil? It's absolutely maddening!"

She pressed her palms to her eyes and mumbled, "I just…wanted to be…his friend…."

Bob patted her arm comfortingly. After a moment, he asked her, "But are you sure he wanted to be yours?"

She removed her hands away from her face and looked at him. "…Well…after earlier…I'm not so sure…."

He narrowed his eyes. "Earlier…? What happened earlier?"

She bit her lip and turned to lie on her side so she wouldn't have to look him in the eye when she explained herself. She took a deep breath and whispered, "He said he was only faking wanting to be friends with me so he could try and gather evidence that I was WordGirl…."

The monkey's eyes widened. "Becky…."

"Yeah, I know what you're going to say, Bob. You're going to say that I should've listened to you earlier, but…." She sighed again and hugged her arms to her chest. "I-I…don't think he meant it…."

Becky flipped to her other side to look him in the eye. "I know that sounds crazy, but…well…." Her eyes darted down to look at her blanket, feeling embarrassed at what she would say next. "We're…kind of alike…. He says a lot of things he doesn't mean…."

"…Okay…. And how do you know that?" he wondered, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him. "Just because he can be rude sometimes–" She paused. "Okay, _most _of the time, doesn't necessarily mean he means…maybe half the things he says. Tobey is just…." She trailed off.

"_Weird_," he finished for her, making a face.

The superheroine smirked. "Yeah, I suppose…."

"I don't see _how_ you and the kid are alike…. I mean, you're not rude, or evil, or…really much like him at all…" he said.

She shook her head. "I can be rude sometimes, Bob. And, while I may not be evil, I can be just as arrogant as he is, on occasion, and I can't stand losing. We both like showing off, in our own ways, and he and I actually see eye-to-eye on some matters…."

When she met his eyes again, she noticed that her sidekick was making a weirded-out face. Before she could ask why he was making that expression, he asked her, "Why are you smiling?"

Her eyes widened, and she realized that she was. Becky bit her lip and felt her face heat up a little. "U-Uh…I wasn't smiling!" she denied, flipping to her other side hastily to hide her blush.

"Becky, you don't…." Bob cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head, feeling awkward for what he was about to say. "Uh…_like_ this kid…do you?"

The question was so ridiculous, she burst out laughing. "_What_? No!" she gasped in between giggles.

The monkey sighed in relief. After Becky calmed down, he wondered, "So…what is it that you…like about this kid?"

She glowered at him. "_Bob_–"

He held up a hand. "I know, I know. But I didn't mean it like…_that_…. I meant what made you want to be his friend in the first place?"

The image of Tobey crying wouldn't leave her mind. Even if he could be unbearable most of the time, she couldn't ignore something like that. It made her wonder what sort of problems he was dealing with that he didn't let anyone else know about.

And it was with that one thought that made her mind swirl with questions. What was he hiding? Was his arrogant demeanor all a front? What did he have to gain from pushing others away? Wouldn't it be less stressful to have at least one person to open up to? Why would he let his anger just fester inside him, boiling over until he couldn't handle it anymore? How could one even live like that?

_Why doesn't he want to be my friend?_

"Well…" she began uneasily, not sure how to get around to explaining this to Bob without breaking her promise to Tobey. She understood that it would be a huge blow to his pride to admit that he _had _cried, especially in front of her. She could respect_that_ at least, even if he hardly held a shred of respect for her.

"He's…different from everyone else. I mean, anyone in our _class_ could tell you _that_, but…I guess it's that difference that makes me so intrigued. It's not his blatant disregard for the law that really interests me though. I _do_ wish he would stop trying to destroy the city. It would be _much_ less stress for me to deal with…." The superheroine sighed and crossed her arms. "Anyway, what _does_ intrigue me about him being different is…well, we're both pretty smart. And that sort of excludes us from other people."

"What about Victoria Best?" Bob questioned, remembering that, while it was somewhat annoying how much she claimed to be the best at everything, she _was_ actually pretty good in school.

Becky wrinkled her nose, recalling their encounter earlier that day. "Victoria _is_ smart, but…she has lots of friends. She knows how to interact with other people better than me and Tobey _combined_."

She sat up, curling her knees to her chest. "I mean, I'm not _completely_ socially inept, but, well, I use a lot of big words that the kids at my school don't know, and they have a hard time understanding what I'm trying to say because of that. I _know_ not everyone loves words as much as I do, but…honestly, I do get a little incensed at people when they just…_stare_ at me like I'm weird—just for liking words! I mean, it's not _wrong_ to like words! Do you hear them saying _WordGirl_ is weird for liking words?"

She kicked her legs out and threw her hands in the air. "No! You don't! So why is it so strange for _me_ to like words? It's so infuriating! We're the _same person_ for crying out loud!"

Fury bubbled within her and she stood up abruptly, clenching her hands into tight, trembling fists. A stinging sensation in her palms momentarily distracted her and she slowly unfurled her hands to look at them. There were deep indents where her nails dug in and she sighed, curling her fingers back to cover them.

She plopped back onto her bed, hanging her head with a sigh. "Sorry…. I got off-topic…. I didn't mean to yell about something so dumb…."

Bob patted her back gently. "It wasn't dumb. You needed to let that out, otherwise…."

Becky put her head in her hands. "Otherwise I'd be like Tobey, right?"

She felt his hand twitch on her back, so she knew they were thinking the same thing. He chirped ruefully, which she understood as, "Yeah…."

After a few minutes of silence, she asked, "So…do you think you have a better idea of why I think we're similar? Why I think he needs a friend?" The superheroine turned to look at him.

He repressed the urge to sigh but looked away and nodded. "Yeah, I get it. Even if I don't want that kid near you, I can understand why you would want to let him in. Maybe, after a while, he'll be smart enough to know he can vent out his frustrations to you."

_Let's just hope this kid isn't too far gone to realize that_.

She scooped up Tobey's laptop and got up again, heading towards her door. She unzipped his backpack and carefully placed his laptop inside. "I'm gonna tell Dad to drop this off. He's gonna need it for tomorrow, and I don't want his stuff in my room…."

Bob nodded and settled back in his hammock. He knew their talk was over for now. "Okay, well, bring up some cookies or something when you're done with that. I'm kind of hungry," he chirped.

Becky smirked as she slung the pack over her shoulder. "Aren't you always, though?" she joked before she left the room.

Luckily, she saw her father heading up the stairs as soon as she left her room, so she didn't have to wander around to look for him. "Hey, Dad!" she greeted with a wave.

Her father glanced up and gave her a small smile. "Hey, Beck-a-roo! Just the girl I wanted to see!" he announced, putting his hands on his hips.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why?"

"Oh, I wanted to tell you that I bought more Snappy Snaps and Pretty Princess Puffs! They had a big sale on cereal at the grocery store," he informed her, looking proud with his money-saving skills.

"Oh, that's…cool, I guess. Thanks, Dad." She gave him a half-hearted grin.

Tim Botsford sensed that something was wrong immediately. "What's wrong, Becky? You usually get really happy when I buy you Pretty Princess Puffs…."

She waved at him dismissively. "Oh, uh…." She tightened her grip on the strap. She hated to ask her father a favor when he just got back home, but she couldn't ask her mother. Not after that robot incident.

She sighed and presented the backpack to him, hanging her head. "Tobey came over earlier and forgot his stuff…. Is it alright if you bring it to his house?" she asked.

"Oh, if _that's_ all, sure! I can do that! It's no problem, Becky!" her father reassured her, ruffling her hair affectionately as he took the pack from her.

An involuntary smile tugged at her lips. "Dad!" she giggled and began fixing her hair.

He turned around again and she shouted, "Thanks! You're the best!"

He half-glanced back and pointed at her. "You know it, Beck!"

When she heard the front door close behind him, she figured she should go downstairs and find her mom so she could apologize. It would only be right since it _was_ her fault her mother had been frightened.

Becky saw that her mother was preparing something in the kitchen, so she took a deep breath and approached her.

"Hi, Mom…" she greeted cautiously, staring at the floor rather than making eye contact.

"Oh! Hi, Becky!" her mother said, turning around with a smile. She held a large mixing bowl in her hand and informed her, "I was just about to make some cream puffs. I've been craving them for a while for some reason…."

She tilted her head when she saw that her daughter wasn't bouncing around in excitement or asking to help her. "Becky…? Is something the matter?" she wondered, setting the bowl down.

The superheroine resisted the urge to shrink away. "I'm sorry, Mom…" she muttered, gripping the hem of her sweater nervously.

"Sorry? For what?" Sally Botsford wondered.

Becky fidgeted and replied in a strangled voice, "I invited Tobey over, and I didn't even think about asking you and Dad about it first. A-And then I forgot that you're scared of robots a-and…." She faltered, feeling her face burning with shame.

Sally stared at her daughter with wide eyes and gently tilted her head up to face her. "Oh…Becky…you don't need to apologize! I think it was very nice of you to bring him over! I know he doesn't have many friends, so you being the friend he needs is a really thoughtful gesture!"

The young girl nearly winced. Why did everyone have to treat her as this amazing person for trying to befriend Tobey? It made him seem like a dangerous animal or something, and she didn't like it.

"And in all honesty, I probably overreacted to that robot. It wasn't even moving! Goodness, I feel so silly!" She shook her head and turned around again.

Becky rubbed her forearm. "B-But…still…."

"_Becky_. I'm fine, really. You don't need to feel bad about that, okay? Now buck up, little missy, and help me make these cream puffs!" her mother shouted, playfully poking her nose.

The young girl rubbed her nose with a small, muffled giggle. "Alright, Mom."

"Go ask T.J. and Bob if they want to help too! It'll be a family project!" Sally yelled, waving a wooden spoon in the air.

She smiled, glad that her mother forgave her. She wasn't sure she could handle it if she hadn't.

"You got it, Mom!"

* * *

><p>"The next day, at school…" the Narrator announced.<p>

"Okay, Bob, I know you probably won't like this, but I need you to try and accept Tobey too. Think you can do that?" Becky requested.

The monkey made a face but eventually nodded. He squeaked warily, which she understood as, "_Fine_…."

"Ah, good morning, Becky Botsford…" a familiar voice greeted, right on cue. She tensed and turned around slowly, daring to meet his eyes.

Tobey wore an indifferent expression as he regarded her. Still, his eyes told another story. He was trying to hide how he really felt, but what that was exactly, she couldn't say. It wasn't wistfulness…and it wasn't anger…. What was it?

"Hey…Tobey," she muttered, just as stiffly.

Bob said nothing, but did give him a courteous nod.

The boy genius ignored him. He forced an arrogant smirk and folded his hands behind his back. "Dumbstruck by my presence, I see. Hm, I wouldn't blame you." His smirk grew and he leaned forward ever so slightly. "I promise you that that bit of weakness I accidentally let slip yesterday won't happen again. You'll hear no more of this _friendship_ nonsense from Theodore McCallister the Third."

That was enough. "_Nonsense_?!" she yelled, much louder than she meant to. Several students standing around the yard turned their heads to stare at her. The boy genius blinked but otherwise showed no reaction.

"How can you say that? How is wanting a friend _nonsense_ to you?" she demanded, so incensed that one could almost feel heat radiate off her.

It was silent for a moment before he replied, "An evil boy genius has no need for _friends_."

Becky clenched her jaw. Just then, the school bell rang, making her eyes widen. Tobey glanced at the clock tower above the doors and said, "It seems school is starting now." He backed away a little then headed toward the school.

He waved behind him and taunted, "See you in class…_Botsford_." The way he said her last name made it sound like an insult, and she hated it.

"See you there…_McCallister_!" she spat back with the same amount of venom. He paused, as if deciding whether or not to retort. Instead, he clenched his hands into fists and continued on.

Bob glanced over at her and she glared at him, fuming. "I guess he's not really worth it after all, Bob…" she growled, stomping off.

He ran after her and squeaked, "Are you sure? You told me he says a lot of things he doesn't mean…. Honestly, and as much as I hate to admit it, that may be true. Maybe…he truly believes that showing he wants to rely on others is his definition of weakness."

She gave him a dubious stare, so he added, "I'm not sure if you've noticed when battling him, Becky, but he tries really hard to–"

"To get WordGirl to like him?" she interrupted nastily, making a face at the thought.

Her monkey-sidekick furrowed his eyebrows. "Um…well, that too, I guess. But that's only a small part of it." He crossed his arms as he thought of how to put it. "…He wants to be seen as independent. I don't know why, maybe it's a macho-guy thing, but that's what he really wants, I think. And maybe his image of independent means no friends," Bob explained.

She stuck out her lower lip, pouting. "That's ridiculous."

He shrugged. "Not to him. Just keep talking to him, Becky. Even if he's going to act rude about it." He flexed his muscles and chirped, "Besides, if he gets too annoying, _I'm _here."

This managed to bring a smile to her face, and Bob quietly breathed a sigh of relief. This meant she would try, at least. Though how the two would become friends after yesterday was still a mystery to him. Heck, he still didn't even _like_ this kid. But he would try to for her, even if it exhausted him.

Becky gave a little shriek, startling him out of his reverie. "Bob, class starts in one minute! We gotta go!"

He screeched, panicked, and the two sprinted toward Miss Davis's class.

* * *

><p>"I'm boa'ed…" Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy complained as he sat on his couch in his pajamas. He had given up on beating his high score on one of his video games, and he didn't feel like playing the others he had.<p>

"Maybe theyuh's somethin' sandwich-related on the news I can steal…" he muttered to himself and turned his TV on.

The set flashed on to the news. A large bowl rested in between the anchors and they seemed excited about what was in it. The male reporter licked his lips and said, "In other news, Brent the Handsome Successful Everybody Loves Him Sandwich-Making Guy's new mustard brand is flying off the shelves!"

Chuck rolled his eyes. "Whateva…. It's not as good as _my_ special musta'd recipe…."

"This has got to be the best mustard I've ever tasted!" the female reporter stated as she spread some on a sandwich. "I highly doubt _anyone_ can top this tangy treat!"

The villain scowled at the anchors and grumbled, "C'mon, Brent's musta'd ain't so hot! None of ya have eva tried _my_ musta'd recipe! If ya did, you all would come running to _me_ and telling _me_ how great _my_ musta'd is!"

With a huff, he changed the channel. A commercial played then, so, out of curiosity, he decided to watch it. "Tired of cutting off those yucky crusts from your bread?" an announcer asked, and some guy staring at a piece of bread nodded sadly.

"What? Crusts aun't yucky! Theyuh jus' paut 'f the bread! That's like sayin' bread's yucky!" Chuck yelled at the screen, incensed.

The announcer continued, as if to mock him, "Then try BrenttheHandsomeSuccessfulEverybodyLovesHimSandwich-MakingGuy's Crust-less Bread™!" His brother's name was said so fast, he rose a brow. The guy on the commercial's piece of bread suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke and was replaced by a slice of said crust-less bread. They guy made a cheesy, over-exaggerated shocked face and looked at the camera as if the piece of bread had somehow changed his life.

The commercial cut to more sad-looking people randomly receiving crust-less bread and all having the same reaction. "No longer will you have to waste time cutting those nasty crusts off your sandwiches! You can just have delicious bread wherever and whenever you want!"

"_Crusts aun't nast_– Oh, neva mind…. Stupid commercial…. Doesn't get bread at all." Chuck muttered and changed the channel once more.

"And now returning to _Getting the Scoop with Scoops_!"

He smiled and shouted, "_Finally_! Somethin' ta watch that doesn't hafta do with my ova'ly successful brotha."

Scoops sat on an armchair and waved to a cheering audience. "Now our next guest is a phenom in the sandwich world. He's already won numerous awards for his amazing crust-less bread, among other tasty treats! Please welcome, Brent the Handsome Successful Everybody Loves Him Sandwich-Making Guy!"

"Aw, c'mon! Can't I catch a break?" the villain groaned and slumped in his seat to mope.

A round of applause echoed in the studio as Brent came around from backstage and onto the set. He smiled and waved at the studio audience. Then he and Scoops shook hands and sat down, thus beginning the interview.

"So, Brent– May I call you Brent?" the reporter asked, tilting his head.

"Yeah, shua. I know my whole name's a mouthful," Brent joked, earning some giggles from the audience.

Scoops nodded then exclaimed, "Okay, so, Brent. First off, I wanna say I'm a _huge_ fan of your crust-less bread!"

He smiled brightly. "Why, thank you!"

Chuck scowled as he watched the interview. "'_Why, thank you_'. Ugh, I don't undastand why people like _Brent_ moa than _me_. I mean, look at him! Takin' crusts off bread! What nerve!"

"Your name is one of the things I wanted to ask you about. So, is 'the Handsome Successful Everybody Loves Him Sandwich-Making Guy–" Scoops gasped for air and continued, "–part your last name or…?"

"Well, actually, 'Sandwich-Making Guy' is my whole last name," Brent explained politely.

Scoops leaned back in his seat. "Oh! Okay…. That's unfortunate."

He furrowed his eyebrows. "Why is that unfo'tunate?"

"Well, then that must mean you're related to Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy…" the reporter stated uneasily, shifting in his seat.

Brent nodded, a small smile growing on his face. "Oh yeah. He's my brotha."

"Brother?!"

His smile disappeared. "Yeah…. I thought everyone knew that already…?"

"It's news to me!" Scoops yelled. Quickly regaining his composure, he cleared his throat and wondered, "So what is _that_ like?"

"What is what like?"

"What's having a supervillain as a brother like?" The reporter leaned forward eagerly, clutching a pen in one hand and a pad of paper in the other.

"Well, it's– "

Chuck didn't really hear the rest. He clapped in excitement. "That kid called me a supavillain! Heh, this kid knows how dangerous I am!"

"Although…" Brent cut in to his mini-celebration. "I kinda wish he wasn't so capricious. It bothas me a little…."

"Ca…what now?" Chuck wondered aloud. He shook his head vigorously. "And _he's_ botha'd by _me_?! What foa?!" He turned his head to the stairs and wailed, "_Ma!_ Brent's callin' me names on TV!"

His mother squawked back, "What? I can't hea you 'cause I'm watchin' Brent on TV!"

"Ma!" he complained, exasperated.

"Tuyun on yoa set, Chuckleberry! Ya brotha's on that Scoops kid's show!" she shouted, sounding excited.

The villain stood up abruptly and yelled, "That's _it_! I've had it with everyone thinkin' Brent is so_ handsome_ and _successful_! Compayud to me, an accomplished supavillain, he's not so cool! I'll show the people of this city that _I'm_ the coolest, most handsome and successful Sandwich-Making Guy!"

He glanced down at himself and realized he was still wearing his pajamas. He sighed and muttered, "Right afta I change clothes…."

* * *

><p>Bob nudged Becky again. She sighed and finally glanced over at him. "What, Bob? Miss Davis is gonna get mad at me!"<p>

He glanced at the teacher, who was writing something on the chalkboard, and chirped quietly, "Talk to him!" He jerked a thumb behind him, pointing at Tobey. The boy genius sat slumped in his seat, reading a book rather than paying attention to the lecture.

She shook her head and turned her attention back to the front of the class.

Her monkey-sidekick rolled his eyes but squeaked once, which she translated to, "Write him a note."

It was a good idea, she supposed. Becky held in a sigh as she turned to a new page in her notebook and wrote,

"Dear Tobey,

I'm sorry for my outburst earlier (even if you started it). The friend thing is still available to you if you're interested."

She signed her name at the bottom. Seeming to think of something else, she added, "And don't act incensed about it either! Everyone needs friends, including you."

She tore out the page and folded the note until it was small enough to fit in her hand. Satisfied, she looked over at Tobey's desk, took aim, then tossed the scrap of paper over. Unfortunately, it was at this precise moment that Tobey decided to put his head down.

The corner of the note hit his cheek then fell to the floor. "Ow!" he cried out, rubbing his face with a frown. Becky slapped a hand to her face.

Miss Davis paused and looked over at him in confusion. "Tobey, are you alright?" she wondered.

"I think something bit me…" he replied, looking around him, puzzled.

The teacher looked slightly relieved. "Oh, I'm sure it was just a bug or something. If you see it, you can squish it if you want."

He looked alarmed. "With my bare hands?"

"Or a book," she advised then went back to teaching.

The superheroine waited a moment before whispering, "Pssst!"

Tobey didn't seem to hear her. He sat up in his seat again and crossed his arms, looking grumpy.

"Psssst! Tobey!" she hissed, cupping a hand over her mouth.

His eyes widened and he looked over at her, an eyebrow raised. "What?" he whispered.

She pointed down urgently. He blinked then looked down. He met Bob's watchful gaze and asked, "The monkey?"

"_Bob_!" Bob squeaked impatiently.

"No!" she whispered and pointed down again.

The boy genius was perplexed and looked down at his desk. He picked up his book of advanced robotics and showed it to her. "This?"

She shook her head. "_No!_" She pointed at the floor with both hands. He continued to stare at her, uncomprehending.

Clearly, this wasn't going anywhere any time soon, so Bob picked up the note and smacked it onto the boy genius's desk.

Tobey looked at the scrap of paper curiously and unfolded it. His eyes quickly darted across the page. He snorted when he finished. "I didn't start it. You did."

"Sh! Write it on the note!" Becky insisted, her eyes flickering to Miss Davis.

He made a face at this. "Why? We're right next to each other."

"I just don't want to get in trouble!" she hissed.

"Quiet in the front now," Miss Davis warned, staring at the both of them.

The two apologized in embarrassment while the class snickered.

After a little while, Becky turned to scowl at him and whispered, "This is why I told you to write on the note!"

He rolled his eyes. "_Please_. _You're_ the one who was being loud…."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Becky, Tobey," Miss Davis said, frowning at them. "I'm trying to teach the class. I'm a little incensed today because the season finale of my favorite show is on tonight and I won't get to watch it because _someone_ decided to schedule a meeting exactly when it started! Oh, when I get my hands on whoever thought _that_ was a good idea!"

She took a moment to compose herself. "_Please_ try to be quiet until recess…."

The superheroine shrunk in her seat while the boy genius smirked at her. "See? You _were _loud," he taunted as soon as Miss Davis turned around again.

She glared at him but replied, "Regardless, do you still want to be–"

"Friends?" he interrupted with a raised eyebrow. "Not really." After a moment, he added, "If you're WordGirl, we can't be friends anyway…."

"Again, not WordGirl. And what makes you think the two of you can't be friends? She's friendly with pretty much everyone, even villains, on occasion."

He rolled his eyes. "And I suppose you know that because _WordGirl_ told you, hm? You're not drawing from your own experiences?" he inquired, staring at her doubtfully.

"Uh…yes, she did, and um, no, I'm not speaking from experience…" she replied awkwardly. "Anyway, WordGirl and I are pretty close, you know. I could put in a good word for you. Maybe she'll consider it!"

Tobey scowled. "She's probably going to make me promise to stop building robuts or something before she _considers_ it." He rolled his eyes again. "Or _you_ will, rather."

"How many times do I have to say I'm _not_ WordGirl?" she wondered, exasperated with his persistence.

"You can say it as many times as you wish. It won't deter me at all, though."

"_Ugh!_" she groaned.

Tobey glanced at Miss Davis to make sure she wasn't paying attention then whispered, "Convince me then."

She looked over at him, wide-eyed. "What?"

He pursed his lips but repeated, "_Convince_ _me_ you're not WordGirl. I'll give you five tries since I'm feeling generous." He brought his hand up to represent her tries, resting his head on his other hand.

Becky straightened, desperately trying to think of something. "Uh…I can't fly?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that your first try or a question?" he interrogated her, nearly making her wince.

"My first try!" she replied confidently.

The boy genius looked unimpressed. "You can't prove that you can't fly. Four tries left."

"What? Isn't it common knowledge that humans can't fly?" she shot back. Bob nodded as if this were obvious.

"If you're WordGirl, you're not human. You're…Lexiconian or whatever they're called."

"I can prove it to you! At recess!" she said, nodding eagerly.

He frowned. "I'm not a patient person, Becky. Convince me now, or I'll take away another try just because you're annoying me.

"I…uh…. Er…what about the day you _first_ brought that board game to my house?" she wondered, hoping that that day would be sufficient enough evidence.

When he merely stared at her, she continued, "You know…." The superheroine sighed and muttered, "_By Jove, You've Wrecked My Robot…._"

"Oh. Well, I was going to see if my robuts's cameras had recorded when WordGirl defeated them–"

Becky had a weirded-out expression on her face, so he hastily added, "F-For evidence to prove that you _are_ indeed WordGirl!" The flush in his cheeks was quite red.

He cleared his throat. "And I discovered something rather…odd."

"And that is…?"

"It seems that my cameras weren't _destroyed_, but _taken_. And all the bolts and screws seemed meticulously removed," he explained, glaring at her.

"Okay, so?" She crossed her arms nervously. She didn't like where Tobey was heading with this….

"_So_, Becky, why do you think WordGirl would take the time to dismantle my robuts rather than outright smash them to pieces? That's so unlike her, don't you think?" he wondered, leaning towards her with an arrogant smirk.

This set her off. He thought he had her cornered! Well, she'd show him!

"And how do _you_ know how WordGirl is like, _huh_? She could've used her super speed to take all those bolts and screws off!" she snapped, scowling at his arrogance. She really had had enough of it.

"Oh? Wouldn't it be _easier_ to simply destroy them where they stood? All she would have to do is fly straight through them," he pointed out. His smirk only grew when he saw her expression sour further.

She shook her head. "That causes more damage to the city though. Think of the debris that rains down whenever she does that! It's tedious, yes, but keeping the city safe is her number one priority. She only destroys your robots that way because they're stomping around and wreaking havoc. She has to put a stop to that as soon as she can, and she can't afford to take liberties with it. That time, however, the robots weren't moving, so she figured she _could _take her time with defeating them. Or so she so generously explained to me–complained, more like–to me that day, after you left, of course."

He blinked, a little surprised at how thorough she was. "W-Well, then why was she so late, hm? And where was your monkey-sidekick when we were at your house?" he inquired quickly, struggling to save face.

"Bob was in the kitchen. Don't you remember?" she lied, tilting her head to give her an innocent air. "He was eating ice-cream. Right, Bob?"

The monkey nodded. A laugh bubbled in his throat, but he managed to suppress it.

"And besides, you're not the _only_ villain in the city, Tobey. She _does_ have an obligation to stop crime that currently endangers the city, not idle robots in the street." She swept her arms out in front of her as if the robots stood in front of her now.

This made him pout, and he really did look hurt. Before she could try to take it back though, he grumbled, "That _still_ doesn't explain what happened to my cameras, though. Wouldn't she have at the very least crushed _those_?"

Becky shrugged. "I don't know. Ask her next time to give them back, I guess…."

He glowered at her. "I _am_ asking her. Right now."

She rolled her eyes. "Why are you so set on _me_ being WordGirl, hm? No one else gets this kind of harassment from you. At least, no one else _I_ know."

"I've already _told _you why I think you're WordGirl! You're the only girl in this city with a pet monkey! Not to mention that you're the same height as WordGirl, have the same hairstyle, hair color, and a lot of other similarities that no one has cared to notice…" he said.

"Or you're just delusional for seeing similarities that aren't there…" she snapped, crossing her arms.

Tobey's eyes flashed dangerously. "_Delusional_?! Now see here, Botsford, my evidence is _sound_. It's just the rest of this city is–"

"Can you stop?! Why do you _always _have to insult everyone and everything around you? It just makes me so incensed how you _always_ talk about everything like it's beneath you! Well, guess what, Tobey? Nothing is! You're just a stubborn, capricious brat that wrecks stuff when you get mad and then thinks that behavior is justified! Not to mention when someone tries to get the slightest bit closer to you, you push them away because you're _afraid_."

"_Afraid?!_ Me?! Theodore McCallister the Third is _not_–"

"Becky! Tobey!" Miss Davis yelled, startling them both. Before the superheroine could explain, or even apologize, her teacher stated, "My patience has worn really, _really_ thin today…and I don't think I can allow this type of behavior right now…. So you're both staying inside for recess today."

"Wh…What?" they said together, taken aback.

The boy genius stuttered incoherently for a few seconds before shouting, "B-But that's not _fair_! She started it!" He pointed an accusing finger at her. Bob smacked his hand away and Tobey drew back, rubbing it with a pout.

"Well, you continued it!" Becky retorted.

He threw his hands in the air. "That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Actually," Miss Davis cut in, "it does. Even if Becky tried to talk to you, Tobey, you could've told her to stop bothering you."

"_What_?!"

Just then, the recess bell rang. The class shuffled out in an awkward silence. Violet glanced at her friend with a small frown, as if wondering what had just happened, before Scoops tugged at her hand insistently. He threw Becky an apologetic look as he led Violet out, hand-in-hand.

The sight only made Becky feel worse. She slumped in her seat. Bob hopped onto Victoria Best's seat, which was the seat to Becky's left, and waited out the detention with his partner.

* * *

><p>"Whea's yer bread aisle?" Chuck demanded, aiming his condiment ray at the grocery store manager.<p>

The manager put his hands down and raised an eyebrow. Usually, he demanded money from him. "Uh…you don't want to rob me?" he wondered.

The villain shook his head. "No, not today. But it was nice 'f you to offa," he said and lowered his ray a little.

"Now!" he said, raising the weapon. "I'm only gonna ask you _one_ moa time. Whea's yer bread aisle?"

"Aisle Five." The grocery store manager gestured towards said aisle. "But why?"

"None 'f ya business!" he growled as he toddled to the aisle.

The villain saw a shelf full of Brent's mustard and pushed it over. All the jars crashed to the floor, splattering mustard everywhere.

"Hey, _hey_!" the manager protested with outstretched hands.

Chuck looked over his shoulder with a scowl. "_What_?"

"Why are you breaking my mustard display? I _just_ set that up this morning!" The grocery store manager put his hands on his hips as he waited for an answer.

"Because it makes me so…uh…so…." The villain scratched his head, trying to think of what he was going to say. "Oh…what's the word? Starts with an 'I'…means really angry…?"

"Irritated?" the manager suggested helpfully.

Chuck's face scrunched up in thought. "No…not that…."

"Infuriated?" the Narrator wondered.

He shook his head. "No, that's not it either…. Good word though!" The villain put his hand to his chin, struggling to think of the feature word. After a few seconds, he grimaced and yelled, "Ah, fo'get it! I'm wastin' my time."

Chuck walked down the bread aisle, scanning the shelves. When he saw Brent's crust-less bread, he raised his condiment ray and fired mustard at it.

"Oh, come on now! What do you think you're doing to my store?" The manager stepped over the spilled mustard carefully. "You're making a mess!"

"The only mess around hea is this junk! Crust-less bread? What kinda numbskull would buy such ga'bage?" the villain questioned, gesturing at the mustardized glop in front of him.

The manager crossed his arms in a huff. "Well, it's the best-selling item in my store!"

"_What_?"

"It's true! It sells out every week! And _now_ I have to get more because you covered this week's shipment in mustard!"

The villain became incensed upon hearing this fact. "Oh no, yer not! I'm not lettin' _anyone_ sell _any_ of Brent's stuff eva again!" And with that, Chuck sprayed the manager in ketchup.

* * *

><p>"Now, you two don't normally talk to each other, and I think it's nice of you to offer being friends with him, Becky, but class time is not the time for that, okay?" Miss Davis chastised, and the two children groaned. The teacher carefully placed Becky's note in a drawer in her desk.<p>

"Okay, I need to head to the teacher's lounge for a moment. I'm gonna give whoever thought it was a good idea to hold a meeting today a piece of my mind!" Their teacher stormed out of the classroom, rolling up her sleeves menacingly.

Once the door shut, Tobey stated bluntly, "I hate you."

Becky whipped her head to him in surprise. "_What_? You–"

"I could've been outside right now, planning my next evil scheme to destroy this city! Not that I really _like_ being outside, but I was _so_ looking forward to attending to the final details, and _you_ just _had_ to get me in trouble, Botsford. Ugh," he cut in with a roll of his eyes.

She grimaced. "Well, it's not like you don't get in trouble, oh, _every time you destroy the city_. And it's not like your plans ever work…" she replied nastily.

The boy genius gave a start. "I _beg your pardon_, but my plans do _so_ work!"

She raised an eyebrow and inquired, "Really? Name _one_ scheme of yours that's actually worked."

"Well, I…. I've…. Uh…." He faltered. His face fell when he couldn't come up with anything. Suddenly, his eyes lit up and he looked at her smugly. "Well, I _did_ trick WordGirl into spending time with me for nearly an entire day. We went to the library, the museum, and the park, where we got ice-cream and swung on the swings…. It was the first time we've ever really interacted without me wanting to destroy her, and I do believe she enjoyed herself."

"No, she didn't," Becky cut in hastily, mentally cursing herself when her face grew hotter.

Tobey raised a brow. "Hm…? Are you…blushing, Becky Botsford?" he asked, a smirk slowly forming on his face.

This, of course, made her blush even more prominent. "N-No! Of course not! A-And anyway, I don't believe your story about you tricking WordGirl! You could've made that all up!"

"Oh no, I think you'll find that I am indeed telling the truth. After all, you and your monkey were there, were you not?" He rested his head against a hand and smiled at them.

Bob hopped on top of the desk and squeaked furiously at him. "For the last time, kid, she said she's not WordGirl, alright? Get a hobby or something!" Becky mentally translated and resisted the urge to laugh.

Unfortunately, this only made the boy genius more entertained. "I find all this to be incriminating evidence that you and your monkey really _are_ WordGirl and Captain Huggyface. No need for the monkey to be so upset unless he really _was_ the captain, now, would he? And your blushing is quite flattering, actually. I do think you had enjoyed yourself that day, my dear. More so that you may care to admit."

Becky felt cornered. What could she say about that without putting herself in another hole? Every denial of being WordGirl only brought up evidence to suggest that she really was her. It was a paradox that seemed maddeningly endless. Why was he so gosh-darned _smart_?! She wanted to smack the arrogant smile off of his face.

As soon as she thought of a comeback, albeit a pretty bad one, someone thrust open the door and screamed, "HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLP! Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy is running around the city destroying all the crust-less bread! And I didn't even get to buy any this week!"

The man looked around, confused. "Wait, is this the police station?" he asked, scratching his head.

"No, you buffoon. It's a classroom! How many times must we tell you this?!" Tobey growled. He had already lost patience with this man long ago.

The man frowned and said, "Hey, that's a little ruuuude! I'm not a buffooooon!"

"The police station is three blocks that way," the superheroine said, pointing to her left.

"Oh. Thanks." The guy then turned around and wailed, "HEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLP!"

Tobey rolled his eyes. "Why does that idiot _never_ know where the police station is? Honestly, if he were smart, he'd simply _call_ them rather than run around everywhere struggling to find them…."

Becky shrugged, hiding her smile behind a hand. Laughing at that guy would be wrong, especially since he was unintentionally helping her find out when crimes in the city were going on.

She glanced at Bob and he nodded, signaling that they should leave to stop Chuck. The superheroine stood up and exclaimed, "Oh, I have to go to the bathroom!"

The boy genius's face lit up and he smirked. "You're going to go and stop Chuck, aren't you, WordGirl?"

She whirled around. "That's _not_ what I'm doing! I really have to go!"

He raised an eyebrow at her and glanced over at Bob. "And I suppose your monkey needs to go as well, hm?"

"As a matter of fact, he does!" Becky stomped indignantly then turned around again, only to bump into Miss Davis.

"Oh! Becky! Where do you think you're going, young lady?" her teacher asked her, putting her hands on her hips.

"Uh…bathroom! Yeah, it's a real emergency!" She shuffled in place nervously, hoping her teacher would buy her excuse.

Miss Davis shrugged. "Oh, okay! Go then! And I'm guessing Bob has to go too? That's fine."

Tobey's jaw dropped. How could such a poor excuse really _work_?! She didn't even question that her monkey just _had_ to go at the same time she did?

"Thanks!" the superheroine exclaimed and darted down the hall.

As soon as she was sure she was out of sight, she put two fingers to her chest and whispered, "Word up!"

* * *

><p>"Alright, whea's ya boss?!" Chuck growled, glaring menacingly at the receptionist.<p>

Even though his condiment ray was aimed right at her, she didn't seem that impressed or frightened by it. "He's on the top floor. I mean, where else would he be?" she questioned while filing her nails.

The villain scowled and grumbled, "Well, sheesh, ya didn't hafta be so mean about it."

The receptionist glared at him then examined her nails. He pouted then toddled to the elevator. He scooted next to some guy in a suit, who looked alarmed that he would be sharing the space with a known supervillain.

The doors slid closed and the two stood next to each other in awkward silence. A remix of one of Tiny Big's songs played in the elevator while they waited to get to the top floor. The businessman glanced at Chuck uneasily from time to time while the villain looked around curiously.

When the elevator finally came to the top floor, the businessman darted out in a panic. Chuck exited and shouted, "Okay, Brent, time for ol' Chuckie to shine! Hee hee hee, _yeah_."

The supervillain found his brother's office soon enough and heard him talking on the other side. He kicked at the door but, much to his surprise, it only trembled in place. It became silent and he heard Brent ask, "Yes? Who is it?"

Chuck rubbed the bridge of his nose, humiliated by his failure to kick the door down. Also, his foot hurt now, so he was in an even worse mood than before.

The villain jiggled the doorknob open and muttered, "Hey, Brent…."

Brent's eyes lit up and he snatched his phone. "Melanie, hold all my calls! My baby brotha's hea to visit me!" he shouted excitedly and slammed the phone down.

"Actually, Brent, I'm hea to–"

"Wow, I didn't expect _this_! It's so nice ta have ya visit me at work! Especially since some guy's been goin' around messin' up my products…." Brent let a rare frown tug at his mouth before it melded back into his natural smile.

"Anyway, take a seat! Take a seat!" his brother shouted, gesturing at the armchair in front of his desk.

"But I–"

"Oh! While ya hea, I want you ta try–"

"Brent!" Chuck interrupted, making his brother falter. He scowled. "_I'm_ the guy who's been messin' up yer products!"

Brent's eyes widened. "You? B-But…why?"

The villain raised his condiment ray. "Because you made fun 'f me on TV this morning! A-And everyone kept sayin' how _handsome_ and _successful_ y'are…and I'm sick of it! As a terrifying supavillain, _I_ should be praised moa than _you_!"

He tilted his head. "What? When did I make fun 'f you?" he wondered.

"When ya wuh on that Scoops's kid's show! You called me ca…ca…. Oh, what's the word?" He scrunched his face up in thought.

Brent blinked. "Oh! You watched it, huh?" he said, then scratched the back of his head. "Well, I called you _capricious_, Chuck."

"Yeah! You called me—" Chuck paused and lowered the ray gun. "Wait, what?"

"Capricious. Ya know…like a loose cannon?" Brent said.

"What? Is that s'posed to mean I'm dumb or somethin'?!"

His older brother was taken aback. "No! It means—"

"Hold it right there, Chuck!" WordGirl shouted as she flew in.

The two brothers glanced up in surprise. "WordGirl!" they shouted at the same time.

The superheroine looked at the two brothers and asked, "Wait, are you two teaming up? I thought the crust-less bread was _your_ invention, Brent. Why are you destroying it?"

"It is! Actually, Chuck–"

"_Teaming up_?! With _this_ bozo?!" He pointed at his brother. "Nuh-uh! No way! Neva eva neva!" Chuck shook his head vigorously.

Brent's eyes widened. "What? But I thought you_ liked_ teaming up with me!"

The villain threw his hands into the air. "I don't! You're annoyin'! Andja created bread without crusts! What kinda bread enthusiast are ya if ya take the crusts offa bread?! That's the _real_ crime hea! I can't believe I'm even related ta you! I don't even_wanna_ be related ta you!"

A thick silence hung in the air for a moment before Brent hung his head. "Oh…I didn't know that's how ya felt all this time, Chuck. Ya know, I always thought you wuh pretty cool! Yer not afraid ta do what ya want, when ya want, even if it gets ya in trouble, and…between you n' me, I've been tryin' to get my bosses ta approve 'f lettin' you be a paut of my company…."

"What?! I don't wanna be a paut 'f ya company!" Chuck growled.

WordGirl put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, just let him finish, Chuck!" she urged.

He crossed his arms but sighed, "…_Fine_…."

Brent looked up again shyly. "I was gonna let ya have total creative control ova ya recipes and even let ya have yer own name brand attached to ya products…."

The villain blinked. "R-Really? You'd do that fo' me?" he whispered.

He shuffled uncomfortably but replied, "Well, yeah…. You're my brotha…."

Chuck's eyes watered and he dropped his condiment ray. "Oh…I'm so sorry, Brent!" he wailed as he practically tackled him into a hug.

The older brother's eyes widened but he eventually squirmed a little so he could hug him back. The villain sniffled and said, "I'm sorry for bein' so…in…uh…. What's the word now? Starts with an 'I'…means angry?" He took a step back to think.

WordGirl blinked, realizing that she was actually needed now. "Oh! I think you mean _incensed_!"

Chuck frowned. "Isn't that the stuff you burn to make a room smell nice?"

"No. I mean, yes, but that's _incense_, not being _incensed_. _Incensed_ means really angry or enraged. Like how you were this afternoon, I'm guessing, and how I'm _incensed_ with To—" She slapped a hand to her mouth. "I mean, this one guy I know."

"What guy?" Chuck asked out of curiosity. Seeming to think of something, he added, staring at her sympathetically, "You havin' boyfriend troubles already?"

She flushed. "No! And he's not my boyfriend! He's just…some guy…." She shook her head. "Anyway, I'm going to have to take you to jail now, Chuck."

"What? B-But…."

Brent stepped forward and asked, "WordGirl, can I propose a deal ta you?"

The superheroine exchanged a bewildered glance with her sidekick. "Uh…depends on what it is…."

"Well, I was thinkin'…if I pay fo' the damages Chuck made and replaced all the merchandise, free of cha'ge, could ya _not_ take him to jail fo' once?"

When she raised an eyebrow, he hastily added, "I'll keep'm busy hea workin' with me. Maybe that'll keep'm outta trouble fo' a while."

Chuck pursed his lips. "Well, I don't know if I could do that fo'eva…."

WordGirl deadpanned. "Do you want to go to jail?"

He waved frantically in front of him. "No! No, I mean…workin' to make my own stuff is…nice, I guess…. But I'm not sure if I really wanna stay good, ya know? I got a pretty neat reputation as a supavillain!"

She crossed her arms. "So how long can I expect you to stay on the straight and narrow?"

He shrugged. "Oh…I don't know…. It really depends on the work that Brent wants me ta do…."

"I'll try ta keep him in line, WordGirl! Don't worry!" Brent chipped in and gave her a thumbs-up.

The superheroine hovered there for a few seconds, debating whether or not it was a good idea to let Chuck off the hook. Brent was really sticking his neck out for his little brother here. Even if he had attempted to wreck his entire business, he was still willing to do so much for him. It was touching, really….

She put a hand to her forehead and groaned, "Oh…fine!"

The two brothers cheered, hugging each other in their celebration. "But," she cut in, making them glance at her, "Chuck, you have to _really _try and stick to this job for as long as you can, okay?"

The villain nodded. "Okay! As long as I don't hafta go ta jail!" Noticing his brother's face falling a little, he piped up, throwing an arm around him, "And as long as I have my brotha!"

Brent smiled and said, "Aw, thanks, Chuck!"

WordGirl drifted towards the window she entered from. "Okay, well, if that's all settled, I have to go—"

"Wait!" Chuck yelled, stretching a hand towards her. She stopped and looked back with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh…this caused a little misundastandin' earlia, but…could you tell me what 'capricious' means, WordGirl?" he wondered with a shy smile.

"Oh! Um, I would be happy to!" She cleared her throat and defined, "Someone is _capricious_ when they're unpredictable or they change moods suddenly. Like how this guy I know is _capricious_ because I can never tell if he's going to be mean or not to me. Or how—"

"I hate to intarupt, but it sounds like this guy is really botharin' you. What's yer deal with 'm, anyway?" Chuck asked, looking genuinely concerned.

Captain Huggyface rested his head in a hand and stared at her impatiently. If she was going to explain all of this to Chuck, then fine. He sensed she was going to anyway.

WordGirl sighed and hovered cross-legged, drifting over towards the villain. "Well, where do I even_ begin_? I mean, I'm trying so hard to be this guy's friend, and he acts like it's a bad thing! Okay, _maybe_ I'm being a little assertive sometimes, but I _know_he needs one! This guy doesn't have any, but when someone _actually_ offers to be nice to him for once, he pushes them away! What is his _deal_ anyway?!"

Chuck blinked. "Wow…. Sounds like this guy is pretty stubbo'n…."

"It's unbelievable how stubborn he can be! And then he has to be capricious about the whole thing too! Like yesterday, I offered to let him come over to my house, and he accepted, right? But then when he gets in trouble about it because he forgot to call his mom, he turns around and blames _me_ for asking him over! I mean, he didn't _have_ to accept, you know?" She threw her hands in the air to emphasize her point, and her monkey-sidekick gripped onto her shoulders for balance, his eyes widening.

The villain stared at her. "Wow…." He put a hand to his chin. "So…why do ya wanna be this guy's friend so badly?"

She frowned and mumbled, "Well…the two of us are…somewhat similar…."

"So…yer both stubbo'n as a pickle jar?" He snickered. "Actually, that sounds about right…."

WordGirl glared at him. He jumped and stammered nervously, "U-Uh, I-I mean…." He cleared his throat. "Go on…."

She crossed her arms but decided to continue anyway. "This guy is rude, and capricious, and arrogant, and a million infuriating things all rolled up into one person, and yet…." She sighed, putting a hand to her temple. "I still wanna be friends with him…. I don't know, is that weird?"

To their surprise, it was Brent who spoke up. He was rubbing the back of his neck nervously as he approached her. "Uh…it _is_ a little odd, to be honest…."

WordGirl and Captain Huggyface looked taken aback. "What? Why?"

"You shouldn't have to _fo'ace _friendships…. It sounds like this guy ya know doesn't wanna be friends with ya…. Maybe it would be best to leave him be foa now…" he suggested.

She blinked. "But…I…." She faltered. He was right. She was pushing for this friendship too much. Looking back on it, she realized that she wasn't even that sincere in wanting to be his friend some of the time she spent pestering him. No wonder he was put off by her behavior….

Sure, she had good intentions, but what was the use of that without honest sincerity backing that up? It made her look fake, and that wasn't what she wanted at all.

The superheroine glanced at Huggy and he chirped quietly, which she translated to, "Do what you think is right, Becky."

She looked at Chuck and asked, "So, do you think that's what I should do then, Chuck?"

He tapped his forefingers together nervously before replying, "Er…yeah…. It sounded to me like ya were just annoyin' him…. No offense…."

Her eye twitched. "No, none taken! Really!"

The brothers made the same dubious expression as they glanced at each other. She looked like she wanted to hit something.

WordGirl began hovering towards the open window. "Well, I have somewhere to be right now, so…."

They nodded. "Okay then. See ya, WordGirl! Huggy!" Chuck yelled, waving at them.

"Bye bye now!" Brent said.

The superheroine and her sidekick smiled then zoomed away.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Chuck is one of my favorite villains, to be honest. I hope I portrayed him right. It was a little difficult writing his accent in while still making sense, but I managed.**

**A little bit of credit for this chapter goes to my sister because I totally forgot Chuck goes, "Hee hee hee, **_**yeah**_**." She just up and asked me when I was writing if Chuck does that at all in my chapter, and I realized I hadn't written that in. Just a random thing, I know, but I like adding all the quirks when I write villains.**


	7. Echo

**A/N: Thanks to anonymous reviewers Rainbow speed, Softgreenseas14, and KO chic for their reviews! :) Also, there were two "Guests". I'll call them Guest One and Guest Two. Thanks to both Guests, but especially Guest Two, who left multiple reviews when they didn't need to!**

**If you haven't watched "It's Your Party and I'll Cry If I Want To" (the episode where Tobey gets mad he isn't invited to Katy's birthday), then, er, there's blatant spoilers in this chapter…. I'm starting to use episodes from later seasons, just to warn you readers now.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven:<strong>

**Echo**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**timid**_** and **_**enigma**_**)**

"Last time, on _WordGirl_, our favorite superheroine helped Chuck and Brent sort out their brotherly dispute, and is now…." The Narrator trailed off. "Wait, you're going back to school, right? Why are you flying _away_ from school?"

She glanced up as she flew onward. "Oh, I have a lot more time than I normally do since the whole Chuck-thing didn't end up in a battle, so I'm gonna thank Doctor Two-Brains for rescuing Huggy the other day," she explained.

"Oh, okay. Carry on, then."

WordGirl zoomed towards his run-down warehouse and entered through a hole in the ceiling. The doctor sat on his sofa in his pajamas, watching T.V. and drinking orange juice, when she suddenly appeared in front of him. His eyes widened and he nearly choked on pulp.

He coughed loudly, and she felt a little bad for startling him. After a minute or so, he asked in a hoarse voice, "WordGirl, why are _you_ here? I'm not committing any crimes! And could ya step aside? I'm tryin' ta watch my stories…." He motioned for her to move.

She did as he asked. Huggy looked at the screen and saw it was his favorite soap-opera. He squeaked happily and jumped off WordGirl's back to join Doctor Two-Brains on the couch. The supervillain rose an eyebrow but shrugged it off.

The superheroine tapped her fingers together nervously. "Um…."

He scowled, though he still stared at the screen. "Look, I don't have all day for this, alright? C'mon, don't be timid. What is it?" he asked, sounding impatient.

She didn't appreciate his attitude, though she knew that she would just be bothering him if she took too long with what she wanted to say.

She repressed a sigh and muttered, "Thanks for saving Huggy the other day…."

When she caught the frown on his face, she added, "You didn't have to, you know, and I really appreciate you doing that. I'm sure Huggy is really grateful too. Right, Huggy?"

Her sidekick smiled and gave Doctor Two-Brains a thumbs-up. He was beginning to feel weirded-out about this whole thing, so he grumbled, "Alright, enough with the gush-fest. You're welcome, kid. Just don't spread this around, or I'll be a laughingstock at the next Villains' Convention! Or worse, they'll kick me out and revoke my status as Number One Supervillain!"

She made a face at this, but did understand. "Okay, sure. I won't tell anyone. I only came here to thank you anyway." She began to turn around when she remembered something. "You know, it's only right I do something for you in return."

When he saw his eyes flash with excitement, she revised, "Something other than letting you go for a crime you commit."

He snapped his fingers in frustration. "I'm guessing this little favor has to be something that _isn't_ against the law?"

WordGirl nodded. "Of course. I mean, I have a reputation to uphold too, you know."

The doctor let out an exaggerated sigh, but said, "_Fine_. Get my groceries for me and we'll call it even."

She blinked. "Really? _That's_ what your favor is?" she wondered, incredulous.

He frowned. "_What_? It's the only thing I could think of off the top of my head, okay? Geez, lay off, will ya?"

He shook his head and grumbled something under his breath that sounded like "Cheese Louise". "I was gonna buy them after this show was done, but since you're here, might as well have you get them. I have a list…." He paused to search his pockets.

"Ah! Here!" He fished out a crumpled piece of paper and some money and handed it to her. "Now hurry up, I'm dyin' for some cheese over here!"

She scowled at this, but quickly flew to the grocery store. It was a mere minute later before she reappeared in front of him in a flash of light. He blinked several times in surprise as she thrust the paper bag of cheese and other groceries at him.

"There…. The change is in the bag…" she grumbled, looking cross.

He immediately snatched out a wheel of cheese and took a huge bite. "Thanksh…" he said through the mouthful of cheese. He then waved her away. "Now move."

She deadpanned but did as he requested, taking a seat next to Captain Huggyface.

Her monkey-sidekick glanced at her and asked, "Shouldn't we be going back to school now? You finished what you wanted to do here…."

WordGirl glanced at the clock on the wall. "We have a few more minutes before I really need to go…. It's fine, Huggy."

Her sidekick shrugged and chirped once in resignation. He reached over and broke a piece off the cheese wheel Doctor Two-Brains was eating. The supervillain didn't seem to mind, so the two ate and watched television in silence.

The superheroine looked around and realized something. "Hey, where's your henchmen anyway?"

"Out fishing. It's their day off," he replied, still focused on the screen.

"Huh…."

After that, it was silent. The only noise came from the show they were watching. She stared off into space until something a character said on the show caught her attention:

"I…I can't be like this anymore, Dominic. I just…. It's like whenever we try to make this _right_, everything goes wrong. Maybe we shouldn't…shouldn't see each other anymore…."

The woman on-screen had tears in her eyes as she confronted a tall, blond doctor.

"But…But Sandra…I don't _want_ us to be like this! I…." He faltered and put a hand to his mouth.

She glared at him and asked, her voice shaking, "You _what_? I know you don't care about me! That _I_ was the one that forced this relationship! Face it, you don't want me _period_. We should just stop pretending this is gonna _be_ something and go our separate ways…."

The woman then ran out of the room dramatically with the doctor staring after her, devastated.

Doctor Two-Brains and Captain Huggyface simultaneously winced. "Yeesh, I know Dom needs to get his priorities straight, but Sandra needs to lighten up a bit too," he commented as the show cut to commercial.

Huggy nodded in agreement.

The doctor glanced over at WordGirl and asked, "Hey, don't you have somewhere to be? Not that I really mind the company or anything, but…." He rose an eyebrow when he noticed that she stared at the T.V., transfixed.

"Uh…hey, you alright?" he wondered, snapping her out of her reverie.

She shook her head vigorously and glanced at him. "Huh? Wha…?" she slurred.

"Kid, your mind was a million miles away. Something the matter?"

She blinked. "No, nothing's wrong! I was just…thinking about that show…. It's…pretty interesting…" she replied weakly. Her attention was focused on the floor rather than him.

Doctor Two-Brains wasn't stupid. He knew she was hiding something. He figured something that either Dominic or Sandra said reminded her of some problem _she _was dealing with, but he wasn't curious enough to pester her about it. Well, he _was_, but he didn't want to have to discuss it at length with her. Especially when his show could come back at any moment.

"Psh, the second season was better. Sandra and Dominic's chemistry was so much more interesting then, even if they weren't together yet. I feel like the new writers are slowly destroying this show, and it's almost painful to watch now," he commented, tossing a piece of cheese in his mouth.

He slyly glanced over at her to see her reaction. The superheroine frowned at the floor so he continued "Still, I'm sure they'll get past this. They're both pretty strong people. They really do need a break from each other, though, or I think their relationship would be ruined."

She sighed and looked away. _Bingo, _he thought. _Hit the nail on the head with that one…. She got in a fight with someone important to her, huh?_

"You really think so…?" she mumbled.

"I know so. If either of them forces their point-of-view on the other, it'll be a mess. If they separate for a little while, maybe they can clear their heads and try again."

It was silent for a moment before WordGirl stood up suddenly. Both Doctor Two-Brains and Huggy looked over at her with curious frowns. "I gotta go," she mumbled and began to hover in the air.

The superheroine sighed once more before peering over at the supervillain. "Thanks. It was nice spending time with you without having to battle you for once," she mumbled timidly.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and focused on the screen. "Uh…yeah, likewise…."

She smiled, grabbed her sidekick's hand, and flew out of the warehouse.

* * *

><p>"What took you so long? <em>Hm<em>, Botsford? Are you _sure_ you're not a crime-fighting superheroine?" Tobey questioned her as soon as she walked through the door.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course not. In case you didn't know this, _Tobey_, girls like to take their time in the bathroom…." She reluctantly sat down in her seat, ignoring his piercing gaze.

"A likely excuse…" he muttered to himself as the bell rang.

Becky scowled. "A _valid reason_," she corrected.

He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and opened his mouth to spout a snarky comment—

"Hey…" she cut in solemnly and he faltered.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the interruption and grumbled, "_What_?"

"I need to talk to you after school…."

The appalled look on his face made her grimace. "I'm not confessing my nonexistent feelings for you, if _that's_ what you're thinking…."

Her eyes fell. "Still, it _is_ important…. So meet up with me for a few minutes…."

He made a face but grumbled, "…_Fine_. Since I _am_ a gentleman, I suppose I can linger a few minutes longer. But I will not stay a minute later than three o'clock. Understand, Botsford?"

Her expression softened and she now looked weary. "It won't take that long, trust me. I know how impatient you can get."

Tobey's eyes widened then he scowled. Before he could retort, however, the recess bell rang, startling him into silence.

He shifted in his seat to face the board again as the other kids started to pour in the classroom. He rested his head on a hand and glared down at his desk, wondering what Becky Botsford considered to be so important that she request he stay after school to listen. She was so irritating. If it wouldn't take long, why couldn't she tell him then and there and be done with it?

He found he was tapping his foot impatiently and his eyes widened. What was he so anxious for? This would probably be nothing. Sure, she said it would be important, but Becky Botsford _did_ have a way of being melodramatic when she wanted to be….

Still, he found the small, nervous pit in his stomach wouldn't go away. He scowled at this and grabbed his Advanced Robotics book to calm himself down.

He had thought about Becky more than he would have liked lately. Especially after yesterday. His head had swum with so many different thoughts about her, it gave him a headache.

She was an enigma. Of course, he might've attributed that to his suspicion of her being WordGirl, if nothing else, but….

He sighed and put a hand to his head. She wanted to be his friend, for some reason, even though he could clearly see that she still found him aggravating. Why was she trying so hard? What did it matter?

As much as he hated to admit it, Tobey actually found it somewhat…_enjoyable_ spending time with her. She offered to listen to him—to _understand_ him. And yet….

He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He _wanted_ to know what she was going to talk to him about. He wanted to know _badly_. And this unnerved him.

"You know, I _could_ transition to after school, if you want," the Narrator offered.

Tobey glanced up incredulously. "If you could do _that_, why did you leave me to my thoughts?" he snapped, scowling.

"Eh, I like to listen in on those kind of things."

"Then hurry up and make it after school already!" the boy genius demanded angrily.

"Yeesh, with _that_ attitude, maybe I _won't_…" the Narrator taunted. One could only imagine the amused smile he could be wearing at the time.

The boy genius groaned. "Fine! Do whatever you want then, fool. I don't care anymore." He plopped his head onto a hand and began to pout.

"_Someone's _impatient."

"Silence, imbecile," Tobey grumbled.

"…Okay then! Looks like nothing really interesting is going on here…." The Narrator cleared his throat and announced, "So! Later, after school…."

* * *

><p>The boy genius leaned against the wall, glowering at the school's front doors and wondering when on earth Becky Botsford was going to come out and tell him…whatever it was she needed to tell him. He had waited long enough, and he felt that he deserved to know at this point.<p>

He scowled at each student that opened the door and got more and more irritated when he saw it wasn't Becky. What on earth could be taking her so long?

"Calm down, Tobey, it's only been two minutes. She'll come out eventually," the Narrator tried to reassure him.

He glared up at the sky. "What? It's not as if I actually _want _to talk to her! I just want to get home as soon as possible!" he insisted.

"Uh-huh, sure…" the Narrator muttered, not sounding the least bit convinced.

The boy genius scowled again. "Just…be quiet, you…you formless being."

The "formless being" made an offended noise in his throat and huffed, "Hmph! Well, sorry for caring then!"

It was silent for a little while and Tobey sighed in relief. To be honest, he had hoped for this. He felt that no one else but him should listen to what Becky had to say. Well, the monkey would be there, but he could be easily ignored.

The door opened and his head shot up, much too eagerly than he would have liked. He blinked and tried to morph his expression into one of disdain.

Todd "Scoops" Ming trailed out of the building and glanced over when he realized he was being glared at. "Uh…you need something, Tobey?" he asked uneasily.

Tobey's eyes narrowed and he waved him aside. "Not from you. I'm waiting for Botsford."

The reporter's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh…. Uh, can I ask what for?" Scoops wasn't usually this formal, but he wasn't sure how to approach Tobey. He never really spoke much to him before and, with him being a temperamental supervillain and all, he didn't want to get on his bad side.

Surprisingly, he replied in a nonchalant manner. "She said she needed to tell me something but she's being infuriatingly slow in meeting me out here."

Scoops pursed his lips and glanced back at the school building. "Oh, uh, you want me to get her?" he offered.

The boy genius looked away. "Tell her to hurry up already. I'm not wasting more time on her than I already have."

The doors burst open again and the two boys jerked their heads over to see who it was. Violet Heaslip skipped out of the school and immediately hooked arms with Scoops. "Thanks for waiting, Scoops!" she whispered, smiling brightly.

His eyes softened and he exclaimed, "Of course! I wouldn't leave without you, Violet!"

Tobey made a face as the two blushed and giggled like fools. He cleared his throat to remind them of his presence and they looked over with wide eyes.

"Oh! Hello, Tobey!" Violet greeted with a faint smile.

He deadpanned and said, "Yes, hello. Is Becky still in class?" He put his hands on his hips, tapping his foot impatiently.

"She was at her locker the last time I saw her. She'll probably come out soon! Don't worry!" she reassured him.

"Scoops! Violet! I didn't know you two were still here!" a loud voice rang out then, startling the trio.

The young artist beamed at her best friend. "Becky! It's good you're here! Tobey was waiting for you all this time! Isn't that sweet?"

"S-Sweet?! I am _not_ sweet!" Tobey yelled, his face burning. "Becky said she needed to tell me something, is all!"

Scoops's eyes widened in realization. "Oooooh! I get what's going on here!" He turned to Becky and winked, making gun gestures with his hands. "We'll get out of your hair, Becky! Sorry to get in the way! Go get 'em, tiger!" he teased.

The superheroine flushed madly. "I-It's not like that, Scoops! Geez!"

He brought his hands up in defense. "Okay, okay. Violet and I were just about to leave anyway."

The two walked off and left Tobey, Becky, and Bob by themselves. The silence was awkward, and Becky bowed her head as she wandered over to where he stood.

She stopped in front of him and sighed. Inhaling sharply, she looked up and said, "Tobey…."

He straightened. "Y-Yes?" He mentally cursed himself for stuttering.

She steeled herself and looked him straight in the eye. "Tobey!"

This time, the boy genius looked annoyed. "_What?_"

She sucked in a breath and her shoulders tensed. He waited for her to say something, but she didn't.

He scowled. "Look, Botsford, maybe _you_ like to drag things out, but I—"

"I'm not gonna try being your friend anymore!" she blurted out, cutting him off.

His eyes widened. Becky's shoulders trembled as if they bore a heavy weight and she ducked her head to avoid looking at him, squeezing her eyes shut.

Tobey looked away, pushing his glasses up his nose. "I see…."

She blinked. He sounded…disappointed…? She looked up at him, and saw him run a hand over his mouth. Did that sound too cold? She didn't mean it in a bad way! She just meant that she wouldn't bother him so much anymore! But…did he know that?

Becky opened her mouth to explain when he suddenly started to laugh. It was harsh and hollow-sounding. "Well, that's a relief for me then, isn't it? I won't have you pestering me about this ridiculous matter anymore!" he exclaimed. His eyes gleamed with an amused light, yet underneath that she could see…pain. Was he…Was he really in pain because of what she told him? She thought he didn't care!

"I—"

He shook his head. "No, it's clear you've made your choice. No need to lie to make me feel better. Not that I'm feeling bad about this, mind you." He smirked. "You must care quite a bit about me to tell me this…."

"Wh…What?" she whispered, taken aback.

His smirk grew. "Well, you seemed reluctant to tell me, probably because you assumed, falsely too, that I would be hurt by your words. I'm not. Actually, I'm flattered."

"Is that…sarcasm?" She couldn't really tell by his expression.

He shook his head. "No, not sarcasm. I am genuinely flattered that you care enough to feel bad about possibly hurting my feelings. It's rather kind of you."

She blinked. "But…isn't that normal?" she wondered, tilting her head.

Tobey smiled, though there was no joy in it. "Not as normal as you may think, Becky."

He laughed softly to himself then dropped his gaze to the ground. "You know…hanging around each other isn't doing either of us any good. We both only did so to get something out of the other person, more so me than you."

Becky stiffened. Is _that_ how he saw her trying to be friends with him? He thought she was _using_ him?

"It's draining us both, I've noticed. Your attempts at getting to know me seemed very forced most of the time, like it was some chore you had to finish. Except this chore _can't _be finished, nor will it ever _be_ finished. And that's wrong. Friendship shouldn't be seen that way." He looked her in the eye and she jolted.

"I guess that goes for me as well."

Her eyes widened. "What?"

"I keep pestering you about being WordGirl. And yet, I haven't gathered a single clue to lead me to any kind of conclusion that you _are_ her. Not a one. How dull…." He chuckled. "I don't know _why_ I'm so fixated on the idea that you're WordGirl. There are some similarities between you two, but any lead I think I have slips away with the evidence presented and I'm left with nothing."

He sighed. "It's a wonder I'm not used to this by now."

"Used to what?"

He tried to hide his self-deprecating grin. "Disappointment."

A heavy cloud of silence hung in the air between them as they stared at each other. The boy genius waited for her to say something, but it looked like he had rendered her speechless. Normally, he would tease her about not knowing what to say, even insulting her, but now he didn't feel up for that.

She remained mute, and so he continued, "What I want to say to you is that I'm going to leave you alone as well. I won't bother you about being WordGirl anymore. If I can't come up with evidence, no matter what I do, then perhaps I'm targeting the wrong person."

Again, he was met with silence. He really hadn't expected her to say anything this time, however. "So we've come to an agreement, then?" he asked and reached a hand out to her.

She looked down. There was a sense of finality about this that she didn't like. What exactly was she agreeing to here? To never try to be his friend again? The thought made her chest feel oddly tight.

In return, he was offering her what she had always wanted from him. If the boy genius stopped thinking she were WordGirl, then it would be a huge weight off her shoulders. She would no longer have to worry about her accidentally slipping up around him nor his constant scheming to get her to confess she was WordGirl. They would go back to how they were before—and act none the wiser.

Becky reluctantly reached out and clasped his hand in hers. He gave her hand a firm shake but didn't let go. His hand lingered there, like a challenge. _Who will let go first, Botsford_? he seemed to be saying.

_Hmph, difficult to the end, eh, Tobey?_ she thought, but relaxed her grip and let her hand slip slowly away. His fingertips twitched and he curled them in a bit, catching her hand before it left his.

She stiffened and looked up at him curiously. He was staring at their hands, his eyebrows furrowed, as if wondering why he did that. He caught her staring at him and quickly let go.

"Farewell…Becky."

The boy genius turned around and took his remote out of his pocket. After inputting a few commands, his robot picked him up and walked off. Tobey didn't look back once.

"Bye…Tobey…" she muttered, knowing he couldn't hear her. "C'mon, Bob. We're going home."

* * *

><p>The next day of school proved especially difficult.<p>

Miss Davis had announced that the school was promoting more science education, and, to kick it off, she had split the class into pairs. And who else would she have to be paired up with than Theodore McCallister the Third himself.

They scowled as they pushed their desks together. Neither of them said a word to each other as they both sat down in their chairs again and crossed their arms. This wasn't fair. Why did this have to happen the day after they agreed to leave each other alone? It was as if fate were mocking their pact.

The project for today was to make electricity using a potato. Tobey made a face. A _potato_? Really? The school district had to step up their curriculum. He had figured out potatoes could be used in such a way when he was only two years old!

"This is _much_ too basic," he commented, pushing the vegetable off his desk. If Becky wanted to perform such a mind-numbing task, he would let her.

"The only way _this _earthling could get excited about this project…." He straightened his back, realizing something. "…if we use the potato to power a robut!"

"Hm, how about _not_ fueling a robot?" Becky interjected with a frown.

Ah yes, they were back to their usual banter. She had snapped back remarkably well after yesterday. Well, he was not about to be left in the dust, now was he?

"Think of it! With my genius and your…." He looked at her and paused. Becky wouldn't necessarily have anything to contribute to his little project, and it didn't seem she wanted to either. "…your sitting next to a genius," he amended, "we could create a robut that uses potatoes for fuel!"

"You know, Tobey, it's not _always_ about robots!" She looked so fed up with him that he wanted to laugh.

"Tell that to my robut." He crossed his arms triumphantly. Oh, how he loved to win, even in a pointless conversation like that one.

Becky shoved the potato towards him, prompting him to do his work, but he plopped it back onto her desk. There were more pressing matters at hand, like creating a blueprint for a giant, potato-fueled robot….

* * *

><p><em>Ha! Telling Botsford to be more like WordGirl ought to show her that I, Theodore McCallister the Third, am fully past that silly notion of—<em>

This thought was interrupted when he felt Becky squish her balloon on top of his head and roll it around. He let go of his own balloon, which then flew away with an amusing sputtering noise. He straightened his back, startled that she would act so playfully all of a sudden.

The boy genius glared at her for messing up his hair. "Why on _earth_ did you rub that balloon on my head, Botsford?" he growled, struggling to fix it.

She smirked. "Just trying to get you in that Science Week spirit, Tobey."

He made a disgusted face as he unsuccessfully tried to smooth his hair down. "This is absurd…. Hair… won't…stay…put…."

After a few minutes of the two of them fixing their hair, Becky began, "You know, I find it kind of…odd that you're taking pride in being a hero…."

Tobey froze. He raised an eyebrow and asked stiffly, "…What? Do you have a problem with that?"

Her eyes widened. "No! I…uh…. Well, it's great, I guess is what I'm trying to say. Yeah…." She gave an awkward attempt at a smile.

He rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Oh please, don't count on that one experience to mean that I've gone good. I'm still an evil boy genius, and you're…you're a regular girl."

_'A regular girl'? Couldn't I have come up with a better insult than that? I'm losing my edge…._

"Yup. You got me! Just a regular girl trying to lead a regular life," she quipped with a small giggle.

Of course, the first thought that popped into his head when she said this was that she was WordGirl, but he knew that couldn't be it. He had said so himself yesterday! And yet, he couldn't convince himself to let go.

Honestly, though, that ridiculous statement warranted _some_ form of teasing. It was difficult to _not_ want to tease her about it. She just made it so much fun. Her reactions were amusing, and she kept him on his toes, something no one his age had ever been able to do before.

He almost found himself missing that.

"Perhaps I should refer to you as 'Normal Girl' from now on. Rather than…." He trailed off, uncertain he should even mention the name.

"I'd rather you call me Becky, _Robot Boy_," she teased.

He glanced at her, alarmed, then found himself smiling. "Oh, that _does _have a bit of a ring to it…."

The superheroine wrinkled her nose and shoved at him playfully. "Aw man! I can't call you that now! You actually _like_ it!"

It was…strange that they were getting along so well after yesterday, and their banter wasn't as…mean-spirited as usual. It was easygoing and, dare she say it, _fun_. Even if they had agreed to not be friends, they sure were acting like it today….

"Okay, class! Put your desks back to where they were!" Miss Davis ordered and the sound of desks and chairs dragging across the linoleum floor snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Looks like we're done for the day…" Becky announced as she got up from her seat.

"…It would seem so…Normal Girl."

She smirked at this new nickname. "You know, 'Normal Girl' doesn't sound all that catchy…."

He smiled. "You're not supposed to like my demeaning nickname."

The superheroine made a big show of rolling her eyes as she moved the desk back in its place. "I guess not…Glasses."

He wrinkled his nose. "'Glasses'? _Really_? Is that the _best_ you can come up with?"

"At the moment…." She shrugged nonchalantly.

The boy genius made a face at this. "I won't be reduced to some ocular tool, even if I _do_ wear them."

It was then he realized the irony of his words, but, before he could stop her, she taunted, "You're not supposed to like my demeaning nickname."

"I…." He couldn't think of something witty to say, so he instead grumbled, "…Don't mock me, _Normal Girl_."

She plopped her stuff down and sat in her seat next to him. "Sure thing, Glasses."

* * *

><p>"This seems like a good spot to sit," WordGirl said and flew the trio over to a ledge that jutted out from its respective building. After placing both Huggy and Tobey down onto it<em>—<em>and after making sure Tobey held her ice-cream_—_she tied the balloons that had floated away from Katy's party around the ledge. She dusted her hands and then sat next to the boy genius, snatching her ice-cream cone out of his hand with a quick "Thanks".

He blinked in surprise then glanced at his hand, wiggling his fingers in disbelief. He merely shrugged it off, however, and they ate their ice-cream in somewhat uncomfortable silence.

Huggy had practically inhaled the treat and, while she never really considered herself to be a slow eater, she found that Tobey had finished his already as well. She felt a little self-conscious about just getting around to eating her sugar cone and timidly shrugged her shoulders up as if to hide this.

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen how the city is repaired after a robut attack…" Tobey commented all of a sudden.

WordGirl looked over at him with a raised eyebrow before following his gaze. Several construction workers poured cement into holes in the street, laid mortar and bricks in broken patches where his robuts had punched into, replaced windows, and performed other tasks in a neat routine. Though these workers must have done these jobs a countless number of times, they worked patiently at it. She couldn't hear one complaint from any of them, which seemed strange to her. She knew if _she_ had to repair the city over and over, _she_ would complain about how aggravating it was to live in a city with villains who liked to wreck things. So how could these workers be so dedicated? It was a pure enigma to her.

"You know…I don't think _I_ have either…."

They rested their hands in the same place, his hand gently curving around hers.

"Oh!" They both shouted as they hastily pulled their hands away. WordGirl clapped hers nervously together while Tobey stared at her, bewildered.

After a few seconds, they stuttered out at the same time, "S-Sorry…."

They looked at each other with wide eyes. "No, _I'm_ sorry, I_—_"

"Pardon me, I wasn't trying to_—_"

"_—_didn't mean to_—_"

"_—_seem so imposing_—_"

"Tobey!"

"WordGirl!"

The two stared at each other, taken aback. They began to snicker and found themselves laughing before they knew it.

"Oh my…" he breathed out after he calmed down. "I haven't laughed like that in ages…."

She had covered her giggle with a hand, so her response came out muffled. "Me neither…."

Captain Huggyface glanced over at the two of them and stiffened when he saw they exchanged friendly smiles. His eye twitched and he decided to watch them to make sure no unwanted attention would be thrown his partner's way.

The boy genius blinked when he realized...he and WordGirl were…_having a moment together_. He gulped then looked away, cursing himself when he felt his cheeks flushing.

She blinked rapidly upon finding that that strange spark of connection between them was gone…for now. WordGirl ducked her head and tapped her forefingers together.

Tobey cleared his throat, making her jump. "So…" he started in an uncomfortable voice. "What, uh…what spurred this, uh…well, _this_?" He gestured around him.

She peeked over at him. "'_This_'?" she wondered.

He straightened his back. "Ah…um…wanting to…hang out with me. You never seemed like you wanted to before today."

The superheroine frowned. "Well, you _asked_."

He felt his face heat up again and he stuttered, "W-Well…I never expected you to say yes!"

"Then why ask?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"I…uh…."

As if she had read his mind, she instantly blushed and dropped her gaze. "O-Oh…."

Tobey felt the pit of his stomach tighten in horror. "'Oh'?! What do you mean, '_oh_'? I_—_" He faltered. After a moment or so, he demanded, "Anyway, you dodged my question, WordGirl."

She flinched. He continued to glower at her while waiting for an explanation.

The superheroine sighed in frustration and shouted, a bit too loudly, "I wanted to be nice to you for once, okay?!"

His eyes widened. She glanced over at him, her face heating up when she caught his stunned expression. "Nice…to me?" he repeated, absolutely dumbfounded.

"Yeah, so?" She realized how harsh that sounded when he winced. WordGirl looked at the pavement below, swinging her legs absently. "I mean…since you did something kind for Katy, I thought…maybe it would be nice to _reward _you for that…."

He wrinkled his nose. "_Reward _me? I'm not some _dog_ you can train," he snapped.

Taken aback by his sudden irritation, she quickly protested, "No, I didn't mean it like that!"

The boy genius narrowed his eyes. "Hm? Then what _do_ you mean?"

"Uh…well…." She sighed. "Since you showed your…your more sensitive side to me and Katy, I felt that I should…show you mine too…."

She glanced at him for a second and hastily looked down again when she saw his stunned expression. "I mean, _I _wasn't invited to Katy's party, even if I _am_ a pretty prominent figure…. And Katy's a fan of mine, so that's how I know her, okay?" she grumbled in response to his opening his mouth to ask. He shut it with a pout but let her continue.

The superheroine stared up at the sky, leaning back on her hands to do so. "That made me feel a little upset, I guess, so I could understand where some of your rage was coming from." She turned to him and added, "Still, robot rampages aren't okay."

"I _know_ they're not okay. Why do you think I'm so proud to be a supervillain?" he inquired with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yes. How could I forget," the superheroine said sarcastically.

Tobey deadpanned, annoyed. "Do carry on, WordGirl. I believe you were about to actually compliment me…."

WordGirl hunched forward, putting her hands on her knees, and explained, "It's not exactly a _compliment_, exactly, but… Well, you just get it, you know? Neither of us were invited to that party. We were both left out. And believe me, I actually _have_ been left out of a lot more things than you think.

"It's just…I'm a superhero, and that means I have so much _less_ time than most people have to enjoy the simple things they take for granted. As well as they should, since _I'm_ on patrol, but…." She exhaled loudly and stared at her hands. "Sometimes I wish I could be one of those people taking things for granted. I wanna be able to hang out with friends without worrying about that being interrupted by some villain robbing the jewelry store, or spend quality time with my family without Doctor Two-Brains threatening to turn the city into cheese, or even have alone time without robots destroying everythi_—_"

She slapped a hand to her mouth and threw him an apologetic look. She was startled to find he wasn't mad, but rather…pensive. The superheroine looked down again with a self-deprecating smile. "Sorry…I'm rambling. Never mind…."

"No! It's fine!" he exclaimed, waving his hands dismissively. At her curious gaze, he cleared his throat and stated, "Really. It's fine. Rant to me all you like."

WordGirl still looked skeptical, so he did the only thing he felt he could do to comfort her. He timidly reached his arm out and patted her shoulder. He felt her stiffen under his hand and she turned to look at him with wide eyes.

He felt himself blush upon noticing her eyes were the color of melted chocolate when they caught the sunlight. It made him feel oddly warm inside to have her be _this_ close to him. He was sure, what with her super-hearing and all, she would be able to pick up the sound of his heart beating erratically against his chest.

Captain Huggyface's fur bristled at the sight and he got up from the post he was leaning on to approach them.

Tobey looked down, the light catching his glasses so she couldn't see his eyes. "Ah…apologies." His hand twitched on her shoulder, as if unsure of its place there. "I was just_—_"

"No," she cut in. "It's…It's fine…." She threw her arms around him in a grateful hug. "Thanks…" she muttered, burrowing her head into his shoulder.

It was silent for a moment before she stated, "Tobey, you're not breathing."

He chuckled nervously, though it sounded like a gasp for air more than anything. "Ah…your super-hearing astounds me. I don't suppose you, er, know how uneasy I am about this, do you?"

She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to figure out what he meant. When she picked up on a rapid _ka-thud_ sound, as if a drum were being struck inside his chest, she knew. Of course, she wasn't blind to his crush on her. He made it so darn obvious, it was almost embarrassing. She had pushed him away for a long time. It was only natural he be baffled now.

Instead of answering him, she giggled, albeit a little uncomfortably. "Look at me. Being all moody when I was supposed to be cheering you up with this whole party thing. How utterly laughable."

"I-It's not…." He trailed off so he could think of what to say to make her feel better. After about a minute, he reflected, "How you deal with all of this is certainly an enigma. No doubt about that. But…I don't think wanting to vent every now and then is laughable at all. In fact, I am more than happy to…to listen, if you want." He squirmed in her grasp to free his right arm. The boy genius then wrapped his arm around her small frame, aware of Captain Huggyface's laser-like glare on him.

Another silence. Still, the two found it to be less awkward with each passing minute.

A question came to mind suddenly, and she found herself dying to ask it. "What about you?"

He stared at her. "What about me?"

The superheroine let go of him. "You say it's fine for me to vent to you. But what about you? Will you vent to me too?" she asked, staring seriously at him.

He searched her face to see if she was telling the truth. Strangely enough, she was.

His arm fell back to his side. WordGirl tensed. Her shoulder felt cold without his arm there.

She looked over at him. His head was bowed and a harsh glare hid his eyes so she couldn't tell what he was thinking. She tilted her head. "Tobey?"

He flinched at his name being called and her eyes widened. He peered over at her and the emotions in his eyes were overwhelming. There was joy, suspicion, sorrow, and incredulous confusion.

"Are you saying that to be nice or do you really mean that?" he whispered.

The superheroine gave a light, yet well-meaning shrug. "I don't see why it can't be both."

Tobey reeled back as if an electric shock surged through his body. He stared at her and found it hard to breathe. Those dazzling eyes of hers told him she was sincere and that unnerved him. In a good way, he supposed.

His brain was too scrambled to think properly, so he continued to stare at her.

WordGirl faced forward and stated, "You know, you're a really timid boy, Tobey. That's gonna cause trouble for you in the future…."

He frowned. "Timid? I-I'm not…."

She shook her head with a small smile. "I don't mean _timid_ as in _shy_. You're obviously not _shy_ if you're out about the city on robot rampages. I mean _timid_ as in you don't trust easily. You don't trust people in your class, and I guess you don't trust me either…."

"That's not true!" he shouted, much louder than he intended. "I _do_ trust you!"

He stood up abruptly, startling her. "You want me to vent? First off, I hate a lot of things. I get annoyed very easily. I sometimes think my own mother doesn't care for me. My father_—_"

"Whoa, _whoa_! Slow down!" she urged, raising her hands like it was a defense against his barrage of words. He rocked on his heels, feeling breathless, and sat down again.

"Geez, you called _me_ an enigma, but look at you! You know more about me than I know about you!" The boy genius wrapped his arms around himself like he was trying not to throw up.

Captain Huggyface gave a questioning chirp, so she turned to him and defined, "An _enigma_ is a perplexing or confusing matter or person. Like the amount of food you can eat in one sitting is an _enigma_ because of its sheer amount, or how Tobey here is an _enigma_ because I can't seem to figure him out."

The superheroine turned her attention back to the boy genius. He started uncomfortably, "I don't know if I feel right about sharing things with you…."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Didn't you just spout some stuff earlier?" she asked, tilting her head.

He flushed. "I got caught up in the heat of the moment," he admitted sheepishly.

She stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "Well, that's not fair. I can vent to you, but you can't vent to me?"

He opened his mouth and brought his finger up as if to point out all the reasons why he wouldn't, but the look on her face made him falter. Why _did_ he have a problem with venting to her? Was it because, right now, he felt much too happy being with her to be able to vent properly?

Tobey's face heated up and he looked away. He rubbed the back of his neck in a fit of nerves but managed to stutter, "…W-Well, I suppose I _can_…. It's just…." He cleared his throat. "I'm quite astonished that you would even consider listening to me."

Her eyes widened. "Huh? Why not?"

He deadpanned, a flicker of hurt shining in his eyes. "We're _enemies_. Isn't that reason enough?" he inquired, crossing his arms.

The superheroine frowned at this. "Sure, we're enemies. You're a villain_—_"

"Supervillain," he cut in. Correcting his status was a habit at this point.

She shook her head at this, trying her best not to smile. "Alright, _supervillain_," she amended. "You're a supervillain and I'm a superheroine. So what?"

"'_So what_'? Isn't there some…some sort of _rule_ that says we can't associate with each other in this manner?"

Her giggling threw him off. "Supervillains have _rules? _Isn't the whole point of being a supervillain _breaking_ rules?" He caught her monkey-sidekick chuckling in the background, but elected to ignore him.

His ears burned at her playful jab and he hunched his shoulders up, trying to hide the fact that his face had become red. "It is…." He then straightened his back and turned his head away. "I-I simply meant that for you. Don't _you_ have a rule about that?"

She stared at him, puzzled. "No."

His shoulders dropped. He was completely taken aback by this. "You…don't?"

"Well, I don't make it a point to visit villains on a daily basis or anything, but if I happen to run into them and they're not doing anything evil at the time, I'll make small talk. It's kind of weird, but it turns out the villains can be pretty nice to talk to, given the right circumstances."

"So…would you go so far as to call them…friends?"

She put a finger to her chin in thought. "Huh…not really. The definition of a friend is someone you know well and are fond of. I can't really say I know the villains _well_. How they spend their free time is an enigma to me. Another definition would be an ally, supporter, or sympathizer, which I most definitely am _not_. I don't condone evil."

As she was explaining the definition, he couldn't help but notice how _alive_ she seemed. Her gestures were animated, her eyes gleamed, her posture straight and attentive. He knew that, what with her name being _WordGirl_ and all, she had a certain propensity for words, but the passion she had for them always surprised him. A smile spread across his face then.

_Hmph, she certainly isn't aware of how infectious her excitement can be_…he thought as he continued listening to her.

"Oh? Then what would you call us?" He made sure to put a subtle emphasis on that last word, lest she forget that he too was a supervillain. While they may be talking casually now, they weren't friends. Not even close.

"Uh…good…acquaintances?" Her nervous smile wasn't reassuring him.

He snorted. "You're not sure?"

"Well, I considered being your friend once, but_—_" She stopped herself.

Despite it being weeks since he promised to stop thinking Becky Botsford was WordGirl, he couldn't help but think so now. What was she going to say? Was she accidentally going to let slip that she, as Becky, had tried to be his friend? Or was he being foolish and overthinking this?

She cleared her throat to cover up her slip. "Well, 'good acquaintances' is the best description. I know a _bit _about you, but not enough to call you a 'friend', really."

Intrigued by this, he dared ask, "I'm curious now. What _do_ you know about me?"

"You like ice-cream. Wait, scratch that, you _love _ice-cream. You hate the show _Robots, Robots, Robots—_"

"Wait, how did you know that?" he wondered, raising an eyebrow.

The superheroine pointed at a T.V. tower not far off. "You tried to destroy that tower once, saying that you were offended by that show or something before Doctor Two-Brains interrupted our battle."

He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "I'm surprised you recall something like that, WordGirl."

"That battle wasn't that long ago. It's been, what, two weeks I think?" She looked to him for the answer, but it was Huggy that squeaked a reply.

She glanced back at him. "Oh, really? Three? I could've sworn it was earlier than that…."

Her sidekick shrugged. He dug through the goodie bag Katy had given Tobey and proceeded to eat all the candy bars. The boy genius wanted to protest, but her turning to face him stopped him short.

"Anyway, what else…?" Her face scrunched up in a way that he thought was cute, but, of course, he didn't voice this opinion.

"Oh!" She straightened her back. "You're not very athletic or physically strong_—_"

She wasn't deterred by the scowl this brought to his face, and continued, "You like tea, though I'm not really sure what specific kinds you like, you're impatient, you like the _Princess Triana_ series, you're competitive to the point where you throw in your all just to win, which would be an admirable quality if you didn't use that for evil, you don't really pay attention in class but still get good grades_—_"

She stiffened and began waving hastily. "Oh! I, uh, know that because…I…fly by your school sometimes on my patrols! I just catch random glimpses of you on accident! Yeah!" she shouted frantically.

Again, his suspicion of Becky Botsford being WordGirl teased in the back of his mind. Only Becky would know something like that, right? She did sit next to him in class…. Still, he could give her the benefit of the doubt and see how she reacted.

"Wait, you _spy_ on me?" he asked, pretending to be incredulous when in reality, he wanted to laugh until his sides hurt. The lie was so transparent. How could he keep his promise when she was just so awful at acting?

Luckily, she took the bait. "Wha–No!" Her face glowed pink, much to his delight. "I'm only seeing if anyone's gonna cause trouble!"

She sighed in frustration. "It's routine, alright? Geez…."

He put his hands up in defense. "If you say so…."

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, she stuttered, "S-So what do you know about me?"

"Huh?" He was taken aback with this unexpected question.

"Being 'good acquaintances' works both ways. I mean, with all the battles we've had, you must remember _something_." The look she gave him almost challenged him to list everything he knew about her, and yet….

He knew he remembered a lot more about her than she probably knew. He still recalled that day about a year ago when she first complained to him about her mom taking four hours trying on jeans, that her favorite food was peas, knew nearly all her Emergency Plans, and that they shared the same favorite painting at the museum.

For all that random information was worth, he still didn't know the bigger things. What other hobbies did she have, for instance? What were her thoughts on, well, _anything_?

_What is her secret identity?_

"Don't you read the _Princess Triana_ series too?" he asked instead.

"Yes! It's my favorite book series right now! I can't wait until the next book comes out in August! I can't believe that Princess Triana almost listened to Sir Finbold's advice and nearly defeated the Ogre of Castlebum! Poor Prince Vanlandingham would've been stuck as that horrible ogre forever!"

"I know! And then it turns out that Sir Finbold was the son of that evil witch Princess Triana defeated in the third book! I actually screamed when I read that part!" he chimed in eagerly.

"Me too! I really, _really_ want to read the next book already! I want to know just how _evil_ Sir Finbold _really_ is! And I want to know how Triana's going to think about him now that she found out his secret identity!"

Tobey made a face. "I personally hope she'll get over her silly crush on him. Prince Vanlandingham is a much more suitable match for the princess…. I suppose I, to put it in simpler terms, _ship _them."

"Yeah, me too! I felt a bit disappointed when Princess Triana started to like Finbold…. Sure, he's _handsome_, but he's also rude and doesn't respect her feelings at all. He also gloats about his victories in battle and it's just so annoying to read." She crossed her arms, pouting.

As the two continued excitedly chatting about the _Princess Triana _series, Huggy's stomach grumbled. He picked through the goodie bag, but all that was left was _Pretty Princess _stickers, and he wasn't desperate enough to eat _those_. He sighed and glanced over at his partner.

It seemed the two were having fun. They were smiling and waving around wildly as they continued to theorize what might happen in the next book. He didn't want to have to be _that guy—_or that monkey, rather_—_but….

His stomach gurgled again. He patted it and chirped mournfully.

He meant to be quiet, but she stopped talking and glanced over at him. "Oh, Huggy, are you hungry? I'm sorry…. Wait, what time is it anyway?"

Tobey pulled his sleeve back and glanced at his watch. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets when he saw the time. "_Six-thirty_? Oh no, I should be _home_ by now! If Mother's there, she'll be furious."

"Whoa, _what_? _Six-thirty_?! Oh man, Mom and Dad are gonna _kill _me!" She launched into the air in a panic. "What am I gonna tell them?"

The boy genius blinked. He thought _he _had it pretty bad, but if WordGirl flew him home, he had more than enough of an explanation of where he was. As for WordGirl herself….

"Your parents…don't know you're WordGirl, do they?" At her bewildered expression, he quickly added, "I mean, they must know you as your secret identity, but you haven't told them that you're WordGirl, correct?"

She looked away and mumbled, "Well…no…."

Rather than continue to weasel information out of her about who her secret identity might be, he said, "Ah…that _is_ a problem…." He put a hand to his chin and furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

His eyes lit up when he came up with something and he asked her, "Do you have a cell phone?"

"Wait, what?"

"Did your parents ever present your secret identity with a cell phone?"

She stared at him, unsure of what he was getting at. "No…."

He smiled triumphantly then. "Well, I assume that, as your secret identity, you still have a love of reading books and go to the library often?"

"Yeah…. Look, I don't get_—_"

"Then you have a valid excuse. Just say you got caught up in a good book and weren't paying any attention to the time. Even if they may get worried, such behavior will be seen as typical of you and will raise no further questions. Well, they might ask what book you were reading, but I'm sure you can come up with that on your own."

The superheroine was amazed. How could he come up with a lie just like that? And he was a _much_ better liar than she was too…. She knew it was wrong to admire such a quality, but it was one she desperately needed to work on to protect her secret identity.

"Wow…. Uh, thanks, Tobey. That's actually a really good one…" she admitted with some reluctance. She shouldn't be encouraging lying, especially if the person she were encouraging was a villain, but she couldn't just _not_ thank him either. He had gotten her out of a tight spot, after all.

He shrugged. "It's the least I can do for a good acquaintance…" he muttered, feeling too timid to look her in the eye.

WordGirl smiled at this. Could it be that Tobey was finally starting to grow up a little?

_Nah_…_. I'm sure we'll be at it again soon. For now, though_….

"Well, gotta get you home!" she announced and Tobey stood up expectantly.

He glanced at the balloons and jerked a thumb over at them. "What are we going to do with those?" he wondered.

She waved at them dismissively. "Ah, just leave 'em there. It's fine." She zoomed over, placing Huggy on her back then grabbing Tobey by the arms.

Before she could soar away, however, Tobey protested, "Wait!"

"What?" She sounded irritated, though it was more so at her nearly dropping him from shock rather than at Tobey himself.

"Hold me by the back of my vest," he ordered.

She rose an eyebrow. "Huh? Why?"

"Just do it. I have an idea."

She and Huggy glanced at each other and shrugged. It was an odd request, but there was no harm in it. "Okay…I guess."

She bunched up a bit of the back of his vest into a ball and carried him as he had requested. Tobey straightened out his body and stuck a fist in front of him. "Look, I'm a superhero!" he joked.

WordGirl snorted and even Huggy giggled a bit. "_That's_ why you wanted me to hold you like this?"

He chuckled. "Why not? It'll be fun."

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the grin from stretching across her face. She cleared her throat and shouted, "Word up!"

* * *

><p>They arrived outside the boy genius's home only minutes later.<p>

"Well, it looks like your mom's not home yet, Tobey…" the superheroine observed as she placed Tobey gently on the ground.

He saw her car wasn't in the driveway. "Ah…so it would seem…."

She hovered uncertainly next to him. "Do you want me to wait with you until she gets back?" She seemed a little anxious about the prospect.

He waved dismissively at her. "No, it's fine. I've already taken up a lot of your time today. You need to get back to your parents too. Not to mention Captain Huggyface is_—_"

A loud gurgle sounded from said monkey's stomach, and he hid behind WordGirl timidly.

The two of them laughed.

"Thank you for today, WordGirl. I'm glad we decided to 'make our own fun' together," Tobey reflected.

"Yeah…."

It was silent for a moment before he added, "I'll be sure to wreck the city again in a couple of months or so, give or take. Don't miss me too much until then, alright?"

She gave him a wry smile. "Oh, I'm more worried about _you_. I'm sure you're bound to miss battling me in your villainous hiatus."

He smirked and said, "Don't count on it."

Her smile grew wider. "See ya, Tobey."

He gave her a salute then turned around to go inside his house. She lingered for a few seconds longer to make sure he went inside then dashed home as fast as her super-speed could carry her.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, for this chapter, I realized that Tobey actually acts like Becky and WordGirl are two different people in "The Robot Problem" and I had set the beginning to start off sometime after that episode "Win A Day with WordGirl". I needed some way to fix that ('cause I don't like straying off of canon), so I needed Tobey to sort of…give up on his pursuit. Man, now that scene has me iffy. **


	8. Afterglow

**A/N: Just a warning, there's spoilers for the episode "Trustworthy Tobey" in this chapter.**

**I've also received a few reviews asking me where they can watch episodes past certain seasons, and I thought maybe some of you readers would want to know as well.**

**Here's a link where you can watch a bunch of WordGirl episodes (including newer ones):**

**h and t and t and p : / / wordgirlgifs (this is a dot) tumblr (this is a dot) com/post/85871449971/more-two-brains-boogie-field-day-fun-with**

**And there's also this Pastebin where you can download WordGirl episodes to your computer:**

**h and t and t and p : / / pastebin (this is a dot) com/cfmL0sEf**

**The first three seasons are up on Kisscartoon, too, if I remember correctly.**

**Just remember to remove the spaces, the "ands", and to replace the "(this is a dot)"s with actual dots. Fanfiction won't let me post direct links.**

**Thank you, anonymous reviewers Fanfic Observance, Blackroserevan, Stormshot567, and especially KO chic. I really appreciated the Garnet quote. :)**

**El Tigre lover, I appreciate the concern. I'm very much alive. XD**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight:<strong>

**Afterglow**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**humble**_** and **_**resent**_**)**

"Hot Belgian waffles! Becky, Bob, where were you two?" Tim Botsford asked as soon as she opened the front door.

"Time to put Tobey's lie to work…"she muttered to herself.

Out loud, she replied, "At the library. I got caught up in a really good book and wasn't paying attention to the time…. Sorry, Dad…." She hugged herself nervously, hoping he would believe her excuse.

He sighed in relief and said, "Oh, okay. I thought you might've gotten in some real trouble! Your mom and I considered calling a search party, you know!"

She ducked her head. "O-Oh…I'm sorry for making you worry."

Her father ruffled her hair affectionately. "Aw, it's alright, Beck-a-roo. Just don't do that again, okay?"

"Yeah, okay…."

T.J. glanced at her from the couch and exclaimed, "I wasn't worried. If Becky didn't come home, I'd get to watch whatever I wanted on T.V., instead of Pretty Princess and that what's-his-name pony."

"Hey!" she protested, her fists clenched. "It's _Pretty Princess and Magic Pony Power Hour_, and I know you like that show too, T.J.!"

"No, I don't! I mean, why would I like a show about sparkly crowns and dragons and dumb stuff like that?" he asked her, his eyes darting to the T.V.

"Says the guy who dressed up as Count Cloudy for the premiere of the _Pretty Princess_ movie," she retorted, crossing her arms.

"I just did that to make _you_ happy. Geez, lay off, Becky," he grumbled, slouching in his seat.

"Ugh!" She threw her hands in the air in exasperation. "Sometimes I just resent you!"

"Well, I resent you too!" he shouted then scrunched up his face in confusion. "…If I knew what 'resent' meant…."

"When you _resent_ someone or something, it means you feel bitter or very angry about it. Like how I _resent_ that you're in denial about liking Pretty Princess or how Tobey _resents_ a bunch of things…for…some reason."

"Why'd you bring up Tobey all of a sudden?" T.J. asked, frowning.

She blinked. Bob gave her a curious stare and she found herself blushing.

"No reason, really…. Just thought it would help you understand the definition more…" she replied with a nervous smile.

Her brother stared at her for a few more seconds before shrugging and muttering, "Whatever…."

Her father, who was preparing dinner at the moment, looked over his shoulder and asked, "Wait, Becky, did I hear you say you _resent_ T.J.?"

She shrugged. "Well, maybe a little…. Sometimes…."

He frowned at her. "Well, that's no way to talk about your brother! Come here, young lady," he ordered, pointing next to him while he stirred a pot.

Becky repressed the urge to sigh and did as her dad asked. She crossed her arms defensively, anticipating the lecture that was sure to come.

"Now, Becky, who's in control of your feelings?" Tim asked as he added salt to his concoction.

She was taken aback by the question. "Excuse me?"

"Who do you think controls your emotions? Is it me? Your mom? T.J.? Bob?" At this, she automatically glanced at her monkey-sidekick.

"People you don't like? Who?"

She clasped her hands together, feeling uncomfortable. "Uh…it's me, isn't it?" she asked uncertainly.

He nodded. "That's right. You're in control of your own emotions. You can choose how to feel about something. If T.J. says something to upset you, sure, you might feel irritated at first, but then you can choose to laugh it off and move past it."

"I can't just calm down if he offended me, Dad," she protested.

"Deep breaths, honey. Just take a big one in through the nose—" He inhaled sharply. "—aaaaand let it out…." Her father slowly exhaled then gave her a smile. "It always seems to help me whenever I get frustrated."

"You? Get frustrated? I've never even seen you mad!" Becky exclaimed, her eyes wide.

He chuckled. "Deep breaths, Becky," he repeated and proceeded to do just that.

She followed his example and whispered to herself, "Deep breaths…."

Becky smiled and started heading upstairs. She looked over her shoulder and shouted, "Thanks, Dad!"

"No problem, Beck-a-roo!"

* * *

><p>"A few months later…" the Narrator began.<p>

The camera focused on Tobey and Becky pouting as they continued to pick up the many fallen books scattered around the library. Every so often, they would go to one of the various large stacks and place more books on top of them.

The boy genius wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Curse Miss Dewey…. Reducing me to manual labor when I could've just taken the weekend to fix Robo-Chaos instead…. Ridiculous…" he grumbled resentfully as he scooped up some young adult novels from the floor.

Becky rolled her eyes. "Tobey, complaining about it won't help," she pointed out.

He glared at her over the stack of books in his arms. "I know it won't help." He plopped them down on a table and dusted off his hands. "It just makes me feel better."

She shrugged. "Fair enough…."

He looked around curiously then asked, "Where's your monkey friend? I'm sure he would be a big help in gathering all these books strewn about."

"Bob? Oh, he's—" She realized that he must've been hidden somewhere among the fallen bookshelves, still dressed as Captain Huggyface. The thought brought a pang of guilt to her stomach.

"Uh…at home…" she lied.

He scowled. "Pity…. We could've used the help."

He reached for a children's book when he noticed the cover. His eyes widened. "Is this…?" He turned the book around and gasped. "It _is_!"

Becky placed her stack carefully on top of another. "Huh?"

He looked at her, his eyes gleaming. "_Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo!_" he shouted and ran over to her, showing her the book excitedly.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Because…what? I've never read this book before…."

Tobey stared at her as if she had sprouted another eye. "Never…" he breathed out. He shook his head vigorously. "You must have had a deprived childhood, Botsford…."

He sat down on the floor and glanced up at her, expecting her to join him.

She rolled her eyes. "Okay, now you're just stalling," she said, but sat next to him anyway.

His eyes brightened and he opened the book. "My father used to read this one to me all the time when I was little. It never failed to make me laugh…" he explained and leaned closer to show her.

Becky frowned. It was a little strange for him to be sharing this information with her. They were only acquaintances, at best.

Still…it was nice to see him so animated. She let a small smile play on her lips as he read to her.

"…And _that_ started something they'll never forget. And as far as I know it is going on yet…." He paused and started snickering.

"What are you laughing at?" she wondered.

He pointed at the book. The picture was one of utter chaos, with circus animals, firefighters, police officers, a chicken, a turtle, and several screaming citizens running around in a frenzy. "Look at all of them. Their incompetence is ridiculous! And all because one insignificant bug _sneezed_?"

He burst out laughing, causing the book to fall to the floor. Becky took it and studied the picture closely. After a few seconds, she too started giggling.

"This is completely absurd!" she managed to say between laughs.

"I know! Look at those firefighters there!" He pointed at a group of firemen pointing a hose at a herd of elephants. "Excuse me, sir, where's the fire?" he joked, struggling to keep in a laugh.

Becky snorted and pointed at an elephant floating down in a parachute. "Oh no! What happened there?" she asked, becoming hysterical.

"The clowns are spraying water at people!"

The two clutched their stomachs and giggled like mad. Miss Dewey soon came over and shushed them, snapping them back to their senses.

Their snickers slowly died down and Tobey sighed heavily. "Well…that was silly…." He removed his glasses and lifted them up to the light to see where the smudges on it were.

Becky's eyes widened. "Whoa…."

He squinted at her. "What? I can't see you right now, so…." He wiped his glasses lens on the bottom of his vest and put them back on.

He blinked several times. "Ah, that's better…." He glanced over at her. "Now, what is it?"

She jumped a little, realizing she had been staring. "I've never seen you without your glasses before…. It's…different."

He flushed. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?" he wondered, sounding defensive.

"Oh! _Different _means—"

"I _know_ what the word different means, Becky. I'm not an imbecile," he snapped.

Seeing her beginning to frown, he added, "I meant…well, I suppose I'm asking if you think I look strange or not without my glasses…." He cleared his throat and looked away, his face becoming a faint pink color.

The superheroine stared at him, incredulous. Was Tobey self-conscious about his looks?

"Well, uh, your face looks smaller…."

His eyes widened. "My face looks _smaller_?!" he shouted, absolutely horrified.

Miss Dewey shushed him again and he hunched his shoulders up in embarrassment.

"No, no, no. Er, how do I describe this? Your eyes are more noticeable, I guess? The rest of your face too, but mostly your eyes. I think it's because your glasses take up, like, half your face, so…." She trailed off, starting to feel uncomfortable.

He took off his glasses again and stared at them. "…They are a bit large, aren't they…?" he mumbled.

She jolted. _Oh no, I accidentally hurt his feelings!_ She put a hand on his shoulder, panicked. "No, they're fine! Really!"

He glanced at her hand on his shoulder then at her. "So you're saying I look…" He smoothed his hair back with a hand and winked at her. "…_handsome_ without my glasses?"

She backed away from him, as he had intended her to do. "What? No!"

Becky sighed and began picking up books again. "Would it _kill_ you to be a little more humble?"

He smirked as he resumed his work. "Maybe," he replied.

She rolled her eyes and turned away to hide her smile.

The superheroine paused when she heard a faint squeak somewhere nearby. That had to be Huggy! She turned around again and said, "You know, there's not many books left in this area…. I'll go start somewhere, uh, over there!" She pointed in the direction where she heard Huggy's squeak and darted off.

"Over where?" Tobey wondered and glanced over his stack of books. He blinked in surprise when he saw she wasn't there.

"…Becky?"

* * *

><p>Becky pulled her monkey-sidekick out from where he was wedged between some fallen shelves. He rubbed his back and squeaked in appreciation.<p>

"Sorry for leaving you like this, Huggy," she whispered as he took off his helmet.

He waved dismissively at her and chirped, "I was caught up in a soap opera magazine for a little while. I honestly didn't even notice until I was done."

The superheroine chuckled. "Okay. So…you wanna help me and Tobey clean the library?" She clasped her hands together and made the cutest face she could to try and convince him.

He raised an eyebrow. "I know why Tobey has to clean the library, but why are you? Did you want to help him or something?" he wondered, his hands on his hips.

She sighed and explained that she too was held responsible for the library's mess since she accused Tobey of not returning her book to her when he really did.

He nodded. "Makes sense…." He clapped his hands together and chirped, "So…I guess you want me to help you pick up these books then?"

"No. Well, sure, but after I have you do something else first…." She whispered her plan in her partner's ear and he made a face.

She stepped back and tapped her fingers together nervously. "So…you think you can do it? I mean, these shelves aren't going to lift themselves." Becky straightened. "Heh…shelves, themselves. Looks like I'm a poet and I don't even know it…." She winked at her monkey-sidekick, who only rolled his eyes at her.

She pouted at his lack of reaction and pointed to the area where Tobey was. "Just go carry out the plan, Bob…."

* * *

><p>"Seven hours and thirty-two minutes later, Tobey and Becky, with the help of Bob, <em>finally<em> finished cleaning up the library," the Narrator declared, heaving a huge sigh of relief.

Tobey glared up at the ceiling. "Why do _you_ sound tired? You didn't do anything," he snapped.

"Well, I had to wait for you two to be done!" the Narrator pointed out.

"And there wasn't some other remarkable event going on in this dreadful city you could comment on?"

"Nope."

The boy genius pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned.

"Wow, you two! This place looks pretty ship-shape! Nice job!" Miss Dewey congratulated. "Although I _still_ don't know how you got the bookshelves back up! They're really heavy!"

Becky laughed nervously. "Oh, that was _all_ Bob!" She gestured at her monkey-sidekick, who flexed his arms to show off his strength. He winked at Becky, knowing it was really her superpowers that fixed all the shelves while he had distracted both Tobey and Miss Dewey with his silly dancing.

Miss Dewey gave him a dubious expression but soon shrugged it off. "Okay then."

She led the three of them out of the library, locking the doors behind her. "So, you two…" she began.

Tobey and Becky looked up at her curiously.

"Since you two did such a good job, I'm going to treat you to whatever you guys would like! Within reason, of course."

They glanced at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Uh…wasn't cleaning the library supposed to be a punishment? Why are you treating us, Miss Dewey?" Becky wondered.

"Oh, well, you two cleaned up without complaining, and you've made the library even more orderly than it was before, so I think that deserves some kind of reward!" Miss Dewey said with a bright smile.

Again, they looked at each other. Tobey tried his best not to smirk, yet ended up doing so anyway. Becky pursed her lips and clasped her hands behind her back.

Miss Dewey put her hands on her hips. "Oh…? And what are you two conspirators snickering about?"

The boy genius looked away, smiling as he thought back to reading _Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo! _with Becky. She shrugged at the librarian, trying her best not to laugh. "Oh, we might've…read an entertaining book or two while cleaning up…."

Tobey coughed.

Miss Dewey smiled and shook her head. "Oh, you two…. To think! Just this afternoon, you two were fighting about Becky's library book, and now you're practically friends! Ah, the power of the written word is astounding!" Her eyes sparkled at the thought.

The children's smiles faltered. "Oh, we're not friends, Miss Dewey," Becky said, waving her hands dismissively in front of her.

The librarian tilted her head. "Really? Why not?"

_It's not like I haven't tried, _Becky thought with a frown.

Out loud, she said, "I feel like getting ice-cream! What about you, Tobey?"

She turned to look at him and saw him stiffen. A very faint rosy color spread across his face and he ducked his head. A vague suspicion that he had been staring at her made her feel a little uneasy. She exchanged a glance with Bob.

"Yes, ice-cream would be nice," he mumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Oblivious to what just occurred, Miss Dewey declared, "Okay, ice-cream it is!"

* * *

><p>"Moments later, at the ice-cream parlor, Becky, Tobey, and Bob are sitting at a booth, waiting for Miss Dewey to get their ice-cream in awkward silence…" the Narrator introduced.<p>

They bristled at this and Tobey mumbled, "Now it's even more awkward, you formless being…." He rolled his eyes and continued to stare at Miss Dewey's car outside, resting his head in a hand and drumming his fingers on the counter impatiently.

"Hey, he's just doing his job, Tobey," the superheroine said. Bob nodded, glaring at him.

He shot her a glare before staring out the window again. "You don't feel uncomfortable being alone with me?" he wondered, looking pensive.

She frowned at him. "No…why would I? And besides, Bob's here too." She gestured at her monkey-sidekick, who gave a lazy salute.

The boy genius scowled and slammed his hand onto the table. "Never mind…."

Becky was taken aback. "What's gotten into you?" she wondered.

He exhaled loudly and started drumming his fingers on the table again. He didn't dare look her in the eye when he grumbled, "It's nothing…."

"Ooookaaaay…." She glanced at Bob, but he only shrugged. How was he supposed to know what was going on in the kid's head?

After a little while, Tobey asked, "Why did you have that book?"

Becky had been staring up at the menu before she looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"_Complicated Robotics for the Advanced Engineer_. Why would you check that out of the library?" he inquired and met her eyes this time.

"Because…I like learning new things," she lied on-the-spot. As much as she didn't like to admit it, Tobey's lying advice from a few months back had really helped her get out of some tight spots. This was no exception.

He muttered something behind his hand she couldn't quite catch, even with her super-hearing. It didn't help that the crowd's chattering was distracting her either. "What was that?" she wondered, leaning towards him.

He straightened, his arms slipping off the table. "I said I would be, erm…happy to help you with any of your mechanical problems if you need it…. I am quite the expert, you know…." He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat uncomfortably.

Her eyes widened. "Oh…. Well, thank you for your offer, Tobey. I'll, uh, keep that in mind…" she said.

His shoulders fell and he breathed a sigh of relief. Though why he was relieved, she didn't know.

"Where's Miss Dewey?" he asked as he searched the line for her.

Becky pointed at the front of the line. "Over there. She just started ordering, I think."

He slumped in his chair. "Ugh, why does this place have to be crowded today of all days? I'm hungry…" he groaned.

Becky sighed. "Yeah, I kinda resent that…. But ever since this shop started up a _WordGirl_ ice-cream line, people have been flocking over here. Some of the flavors are really unusual too. Like there's a cheese-flavored ice-cream in honor of Doctor Two-Brains, and a bacon-flavored ice-cream to represent the Butcher. If you ask me, this whole thing has gotten out-of-hand…."

Tobey raised an eyebrow. "What flavor have they given _me_?" he wondered.

She glanced up at the menu and spotted what the store had called the "Tobey Special". It was…chocolate ice-cream? She furrowed her eyebrows. "Chocolate? Uh…I don't know what that has to do with you or robots…."

He smirked. "Oh, I get it…." At her confused expression, he added, "I always get chocolate when I come here. I've tried the other flavors too, of course, but chocolate is my favorite."

The superheroine smiled, impressed. "So you must come here a lot, huh?"

"I do. Once every week, at least."

Her eyes widened. "Every _week_? How do you pay for all that ice-cream?!" she asked.

"I've brought this store a lot of business since I became a supervillain. Mainly through fans who come here in the hopes of catching a glimpse of me."

He saw her about to say something and raised a hand, stopping her. "Before you give me some unneeded lecture about being more humble, I'm actually not boasting for once. I only meant to say that the owners are grateful for bringing them so many customers, so they give me free ice-cream."

Becky frowned. "Well, why didn't you just say that then?"

"Because, knowing you, you'd get all moody and pout then ask why I get free ice-cream. I figured I should save some time and just tell you the whole story," he replied shortly.

She opened her mouth to protest, but realized that he was right. She _would _do that. Becky crossed her arms and slouched angrily in her seat.

"No need to look so glum, Normal Girl," he assured her, smirking.

She blinked in surprise then smiled. "I thought you dropped calling me that, _Glasses,_" she retorted, leaning forward so that her elbows rested on the table.

He rested his chin on a hand and said, "Really, I thought you could come up with some other demeaning nickname by now, Botsford."

"I _could_, but you don't like Glasses, so I'm gonna keep calling you that."

His smirk grew. "Oh, alright…Miss Average…."

Becky raised an eyebrow. So that's how he wanted to play it, hm? "…Bowtie Boy."

"Ordinary Damsel."

"Orange Vest."

"Ice-cream!" a voice exclaimed next to them.

The two kids practically jumped out of their skins. It was only when they lurched back did they realize just how close they had leaned toward each other.

Miss Dewey held out two sugar cones, one with a chocolate scoop and one with a strawberry scoop. They thanked her in small voices and followed her back to her car without another word.

* * *

><p>"The next day, at Mr. Big Industries…" the Narrator transitioned.<p>

Mr. Big sat at his desk, squishing a pink bunny head in a hand and staring off into space. After a minute or so, he yelled, "Leslie! Leslie, come in here!"

His assistant opened the door to his office. "You called, sir?" She looked frazzled, to say the least. Dark circles and bags rested just under her eyes and her hair was unkempt. Her boss had left her to pull an all-nighter last night taking care of his company's finances. She hadn't so much as received a "thank you" from him this morning, and she was hoping that was what he had called her in for.

Of course, Mr. Big was not the most considerate of bosses, so she didn't feel all too disappointed when he asked her, "I'm totally awesome, right?"

Before she could reply, he said, "Of _course_ you think that! But the rest of the city doesn't seem to appreciate my utter magnificence! It doesn't make sense! I should be _big_! It's in my name for crying out loud!"

She repressed the urge to sigh. "Humble this morning, are we, sir?" she wondered sarcastically.

"I don't want to be humble! I want to be _big_!" he complained.

"Sir, you _are_ big. Mr. Big. Everyone in the city knows who you are. Isn't that enough?" Leslie tried to reassure him.

"No! It's not enough!" He threw his arms in the air. "I want my own holiday! I want a parade thrown in my honor! I want the city to _adore_ me!"

He slumped in his chair with a pout. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head and he sat up straight. "Hold on…. Maybe I _can_ have all those things…" he muttered.

Pointing at his assistant, he said, "Leslie! What's the date today?"

"The sixteenth. Why?"

He grinned evilly. "Let this day be known as International I Love Mr. Big Day!" he declared and got up from his desk. "I want there to be Mr. Big shirts, hats, mugs, posters, keychains—Mr. Big _everything_! Oh, and masks like mine too. Those are important…."

"Only two problems. One, we don't _have_ any of those things—"

Mr. Big rolled his eyes. "Well, _duh_. You can take care of the merchandise-thing."

She almost wanted to strangle him. First the company's books and now this? She could barely function as it was. The tiniest flicker of resentment bloomed in her chest.

"Sir, I—"

"Oh, and I'm gonna need coffee _stat_. I stayed up late last night watching cartoons and I am _exhausted_…." He stretched his arms up and let out a huge yawn.

Leslie's eye twitched. Oh, _he_ was exhausted, huh? She clenched her jaw but said, "Of course. Right away, sir."

She stomped out of the room. Mr. Big, oblivious to her anger, stared out the window and chuckled to himself. "Soon everyone will be talking about how amazing I am!"

He cackled loudly but was interrupted by Leslie putting a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Oh, right, coffee," he said and took a sip.

* * *

><p>"Later, at the Botsford residence…." The camera quickly panned over to inside Becky's room.<p>

Becky was on her bed, reading the _Princess Triana: Before the Crown_ books with enthusiastic fervor. She was even dressed as Princess Triana. Every so often, she would exclaim, "No way!" or "Wow!"

Bob swung lazily in his hammock, thinking back to yesterday. Tobey was being a little nicer to Becky lately. And he seemed a bit more flustered when he talked to her now. The only other time he had seen the kid act that way was when he talked with WordGirl….

He narrowed his eyes. Was he acting this way because he was trying out a more subtle way to find out if Becky was WordGirl? Or, and this thought made him grimace, did the kid actually develop a crush on her as Becky Botsford?

His partner giggled in delight, snapping him out of his thoughts. He looked over at her, his eyes softening when he saw her lying on her stomach, reading. Her eyes flitted across the page and she had a serene smile on her face as she turned the page.

He shook his head. The kid didn't deserve her. Not in a million years….

Suddenly, she tensed and the smile dropped from her face. Her head was tilted, as if she was trying to hear something far-off.

When she met his eyes, he knew that there was some villain committing some crime or other. He lifted his arm up so she could pick him up easily when she transformed.

Becky put two fingers to her chest and shouted, "Word up!"

* * *

><p>Mr. Big sat on top of a stack of boxes and watched as Leslie unloaded more boxes out of a truck. She seemed to be having trouble carrying two especially large boxes, but her boss didn't lift a finger to help.<p>

He got up from his spot and sighed, "Ugh, what's taking so long, Leslie?"

She put the boxes down and turned back to get some more. "Well, it's only me carrying this stuff out, sir. If you helped me, we could get this all out faster," she suggested.

He wrinkled his nose. "Me? Lift these heavy boxes?" He laughed so hard that he clutched his stomach. "Oh, that was a good one, Leslie…."

She threw a scowl at him before picking up another box and grumbling, "It wasn't a joke, sir."

"Hold it right there, Mr. Big!" WordGirl shouted, pointing at him.

He spun around, his eyes wide. "WordGirl!"

"I heard you cackling like you were up to something evil! What are you up to?" she wondered as she hovered closer to him.

He made an offended noise in his throat. "Well, maybe that's how I normally laugh," he scoffed.

"Oh, uh—"

"Never mind. What are you doing here?"

The superheroine blinked. "Wha—? That's what I asked you!"

He stared at her, puzzled. "Really?" he wondered.

"Yeah. So…what are you doing?" WordGirl crossed her arms.

He opened his mouth to respond when a loud _thud_ startled him. He twisted around and saw his assistant trying to pick up the boxes she dropped. "Leslie! Be more careful with the merchandise!" he scolded and walked over to her.

She wiped the sweat off her brow and muttered, "Sorry, sir."

He rolled his eyes and turned back to the superheroine. "I'm supplying the city with Mmmr. Big mmmerchandise!" he announced, twirling a finger in the air.

"Uh…what now?" WordGirl asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You know how you, your little koala friend, and all the villains in this city have toys and stuff? Well, I decided the city needs more me in it, so I've created my own line of Mmmr. Big mmmerchandise! That way, my fans won't suffer from a lack of me on the shelves!" he explained and gestured at himself.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "_Really_? And how do I know there aren't little mind-control devices in these products of yours?" she inquired.

Mr. Big sighed and snapped his fingers at his assistant. "Leslie, open one of these boxes," he ordered.

She did as he asked and revealed a shipment of Mr. Big brand masks, which looked identical to Mr. Big's own mask. He took one out of the box and handed it to her.

The superheroine inspected the mask closely but couldn't see anything that looked suspicious. She squished the material in her fingers and her eyes widened. "Whoa, it's so soft…" she said, rubbing it against her cheek. Captain Huggyface took it from her and put it on. He chirped in appreciation of the comfortable material.

"Of course it's soft. You think I'd wear this mask all the time if it was itchy?" He pulled at the bottom of his mask and let it snap back to his face for emphasis.

"But you're a villain! You've got to be up to something with all of this stuff!" she insisted, spreading her arms out.

Mr. Big raised a finger, as if to make a point. "I may be a villain, but I'm also a businessman."

He pointed at Captain Huggyface. "You. Chipmunk. You want that mask?"

The monkey nodded eagerly, so the CEO held out his hand and said, "That'll be eight bucks."

"Eight bucks?!" WordGirl repeated incredulously. She glanced at her partner, expecting him to rip the ridiculously overpriced mask off and throw it to the ground. Instead, he had his wallet out and had already taken out several bills.

She gasped. "Huggy!" she yelled, feeling betrayed.

He shrugged meekly and handed Mr. Big the money. The CEO grinned as he snatched it from him. "Pleasure doing business with you," he said cheerfully.

WordGirl glared at her sidekick.

Mr. Big looked up at Huggy with an approving smirk. He chuckled to himself then declared, "Soon everyone's going to be rushing to buy Mr. Big merchandise! And they'll all recognize the brilliance that is Mmmr. Big!"

She nudged her partner. "Who'd _he_ get humility lessons from? Tobey?" she joked in a low voice.

Unfortunately for her, Mr. Big had caught what she had said. "Tobey? That's the robot kid with the thing for you, right?"

She immediately flushed red. "Wh-What?!" she shrieked.

He raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, everyone in the city knows already. I mean, why do you think he tries so hard to get your attention?" he asked, smirking.

"W-Well, I-I…."

"You didn't know?" He looked dubious of her wavering. "I mean, it was so obvious."

"Wha—! I knew! I've known for a long time!" she yelled, louder than she meant to.

He winced and put his hands up in defense. "Okay, okay, geez. No need to shout it to the world."

After a moment or so, he asked, "So do you like him too or what?"

WordGirl stiffened. "_Excuse me?_"

"Tobey. Do you like him?" he probed. His eyes shone too brightly for her liking.

Usually, she'd give a straight answer, but the mention of Tobey's crush on her had been so unexpected, she'd been rendered unable to speak properly. All that came out of her mouth was mortified sputtering.

His eyes widened. "Oh, whoa, don't tell me you _do_?" he asked and smiled in an incredulous stupor. He looked about ready to laugh. Captain Huggyface furrowed his eyebrows and gave her a stern look.

"No!" she shouted finally. "I don't!"

She started to hover away from Mr. Big. "Well, since you're not doing anything illegal, I'm gonna go. Okay, bye!" she yelled quickly and zipped away.

Mr. Big started laughing so hard, he fell to the ground. "Leslie, did you see that?" he gasped.

She had watched the entire exchange with mild interest, so she answered, "Yes, sir."

He continued to snicker as he got up. He glanced back at her and asked, "Do you think she actually _does_ like him?"

"I don't know, sir."

He pursed his lips. "Aw, c'mon. If you had to take a guess, does she or doesn't she?"

The goofy grin on his face almost made her smile too. "I guess it's possible. The way she darted away like that is suspicious."

He wandered closer to her, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Do you think we've found her weakness?" he wondered.

She turned away to place address stickers on various boxes. "If we don't know for sure, sir, then we shouldn't jump to conclusions."

Mr. Big frowned. "Aw…booooo," he complained and sat down on a stack of boxes with a frown.

He kicked at a pebble on the ground in frustration. "So, did you order the mind-control camera-thing?" he asked. Some good news would be nice right now.

"Yes, sir. It's on its way," she replied as she marked off a chart on her clipboard.

He grinned and tapped his fingers together. "Excellent…."

* * *

><p>The camera rushed over to Becky's living room, where she sat slumped on her couch. Bob was flipping through the channels with a bored expression.<p>

Suddenly, she sat up and yelled, "GAH!"

Bob was so startled, he dropped the remote. He glared at her but she didn't seem to notice. "Why did Mr. Big have to ask me about that?! Ugh, that was _so_ embarrassing!" she yelled and put her head in her hands.

He patted her back and gave her a comforting chirp.

"I mean, it's not like I didn't _know_. I would have to be a total dunce _not_ to have noticed by now! But…I-I don't know, when someone mentions it to me out loud, it makes me feel all flustered and I can't find the words to express how infuriated it makes me! And that's terrible! I'm _WordGirl_! I'm supposed to have the words for everything!"

Her partner didn't really know what to say about the matter. On the one hand, he knew there was no way Becky liked that kid. But then he had a nagging suspicion that maybe she _did_ like him too. Not really in the romantic sense, but she could be fond of him. Fond enough to randomly mention him while confronting another villain, anyway….

She sighed. "Ugh, forget it. I'm just gonna see if there's a _Pretty Princess_ re-run or something…" she grumbled and scooped the remote up in her hands. She changed the channel, and it flashed on to a commercial with Mr. Big standing in front of a green background.

"Hello, Mr. Big fans! Are _you_—yes, _you_—tired of not having enough _me_ to go around?" he asked. The background began to swirl slowly.

"No…" she muttered under her breath.

The CEO grinned and spread his arms out to the audience. Suddenly, a purple shirt with his face on it floated on-screen. Becky's eye twitched. "Whoa, _tacky_," she whispered as more products came on-screen.

She playfully nudged Bob and asked, "Who's gonna buy _that_?"

When he didn't respond, she glanced over at him and saw he was staring transfixed at the screen.

She slapped a hand to her forehead and said, "Mind-control…. Of course…."

She shut off the T.V. and he blinked several times, shocked. She grabbed his arm and yelled, "Word up!"

* * *

><p>"…Posters! Keychains! Even—"<p>

"Stop right there, Mr. Big!" WordGirl ordered as she flew in front of the camera.

He flinched at her sudden arrival. "WordGirl? But I haven't even finished my commercial yet!" he whined. He peeked around the superheroine and motioned for Leslie to stop filming.

She turned the camera off and began hauling various products off to the side. They were going to have to do another take.

"Doesn't matter! You're under arrest for using mind-control to get people to buy these tacky souvenirs!" she declared, gesturing at the pile of Mr. Big stuff Leslie was rearranging.

"They're not _tacky_! Anything with _my_ gorgeous face on it can't be _tacky_." He scowled at her and grumbled, "You're still sore over that Tobey thing, aren't you?"

The superheroine blushed. "N-No, I'm not, even though I resent you asking me that! I'm here to stop your evil plot!"

"Or maybe you're here because you want a Mr. Big brand mask for yourself?" he asked, totally ignoring her.

"I don't want one!" she shouted.

"Oh…. In that case…." He snapped his fingers and Leslie glanced over at him. "Leslie! You know what to do!" He turned around to stare out the window, his hands clasped behind his back.

She stared at him incredulously, her arms full of Mr. Big products. "But, sir, I'm still fixing the—"

"Now!" he yelled, throwing her a glare.

Leslie dropped the stuff furiously and leaped in front of WordGirl and Captain Huggyface. She demonstrated a few karate moves to intimidate them and got in a fighting stance.

"Monkey throw!" WordGirl exclaimed and tossed her sidekick at her.

She half-expected Leslie to side-step Huggy and engage in a heated match with him, but she didn't even move. Instead, he fell on top of her and she lay splayed on the ground, looking resigned.

The superheroine tilted her head and carefully hovered over to her. "Hey, uh, Leslie, are you okay?"

Leslie adjusted her glasses with a sigh. "Not really. Mr. Big is being very demanding today, and I can't handle all these tasks he's given me. I haven't slept in thirty hours…." She was arrested by a yawn, as if to emphasize her exhaustion.

"Whoa, sounds like you need a break. Has he even thanked you for all the work you've done for him?" WordGirl asked, crouching next to her.

She shook her head. "I don't think he even knows how much work I actually do for this company. And he always gets the credit…."

"That's awful…" she replied sympathetically. Huggy got off Leslie and patted her on the head.

WordGirl put a hand to her chin in thought. "I know! I'll talk to him!" she exclaimed and sped over to where Mr. Big stood.

He looked over at her with wide eyes. "Wha—! But Leslie—" He stopped when he saw her dozing on the floor. "Leslie!" he shouted and she jolted up.

"What? Oh, uh, right away, sir!" she said and picked up her clipboard upside-down.

"Why were you on the floor? I thought you were taking care of WordGirl and that platypus!"

"That's a monkey, sir," she corrected wearily.

"Alright, but—"

"Mr. Big," the superheroine interrupted and he looked over at her, furrowing his eyebrows. "Just why did you hire Leslie in the first place?" she wondered.

Both Mr. Big and Leslie stared at her with wide eyes. "What?" he asked, taken aback.

"You had to have had a lot of work to do before hiring Leslie, right?"

He frowned and looked away. "Well, I've had a few assistant before Leslie, but they all quit."

"And before that?"

He crossed his arms defensively. He knew what she was trying to get at. "Okay, yeah, I had a ton of work. And I got tired of handling it all, so that's why I decided to hire an assistant. I mean, that's what they're there for," he explained and gestured at the frazzled Leslie.

She shrugged. "Well, yeah. But did you ever wonder _why_ those other assistants quit?" Seeming to think of something, she asked, "And how many other assistants did you have before Leslie anyway?"

"About twenty-four," he replied nonchalantly. "And no, I never wondered why those assistants quit. I just assumed they couldn't handle the greatness that is Mmmr. Big!"

"You know, you're not very humble. Maybe _that's_ what drove them away?" WordGirl prompted.

The CEO frowned at her. "Of course I'm not humble!" he shouted. He then scratched the back of his neck and wondered, "Uh…what does humble mean?"

"When someone is _humble_, that means they're modest and don't brag about their accomplishments or themselves. Like how I'm _humble_ about how many keys to the city I've won—"

At this, Huggy threw her a doubtful glance.

"—And how Leslie is _humble_ about all the work she's had to do for you over the years."

He rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

WordGirl glanced back at the assistant and motioned for her to speak. Leslie sighed and stepped forward. "Sir, I've worked for you for many years now, and not once have I heard you thank me. I've wanted to quit so many times. I've actually resigned once."

"I-I'm confused…" her boss stuttered. "I thought you could handle all that work!"

She deadpanned. "_No one_ could handle that amount of work, sir."

He stepped towards her uncertainly. "But…But you handle it."

"Barely."

He scratched the back of his head nervously. "Oh…. Well, how come you didn't tell me?"

"Would you have listened?" she retorted.

He opened his mouth, about to indignantly say yes, but knew he wouldn't have. He would ignore her pleas and go on like he had. Thinking back now, he wondered how long Leslie would've put up with that. How long she had _already_ put up with him.

"I…." Mr. Big faltered then took a deep breath. "No, I guess not."

He crossed his arms and glared at WordGirl. "So, are you gonna tie us up or something? I already know I'm caught…. And Leslie is too tired to fight."

His assistant blinked. "You actually noticed I was tired, sir?"

He scowled and turned around to hide a blush. "Of course I noticed. I'm not blind, you know…."

Geez, he really wasn't good at expressing gratitude, was he…? Clearing his throat, he added, "And th-thanks for handling the books last night…. I didn't even ask you to, but you did. So…yeah."

Leslie clasped her hands together, dropping her clipboard. She had wanted to hear those words for so long. Inclining her head politely, she said simply, "You're welcome, sir."

The superheroine straightened, realizing they were finished. She was surprised by how easy this battle was. "Oh! Yeah, I gotta arrest you." She quickly destroyed the camera, grabbed Leslie and Mr. Big, and warped the metal around the two so they couldn't escape.

"I'll leave you two to wait for the police…and so you can talk things out with each other. I don't want to intrude on that…" she assured them and zoomed off.

"That was nice of her," Leslie commented.

"Yeah…."

It was quiet for a little while before he began, "Listen, Leslie, I…." He was interrupted when two cops came in with equipment to get them out of the metal. They gave him a salute and worked at the warped camera diligently.

After about half an hour or so, they were freed…then had handcuffs slapped on their wrists. The police expected some form of resistance, and were surprised when they had none. Mr. Big would've usually started bragging about how close he got to controlling the whole city and Leslie would've usually looked more annoyed. Instead, the CEO seemed to be thinking about something, a solemn expression on his face, and his assistant looked ready to collapse.

When they got in the back of the police car, Mr. Big finally spoke. "Leslie, I'm sorry."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Sir?" she said, sounding bewildered.

"Look, I don't want to repeat myself, okay? I'm sorry. Sorry for treating you the way I've been…and stuff…" he mumbled then cleared his throat.

She almost smiled. His apology might've sounded dismissive to other people, but she knew that he really did mean it. She turned to look out the window.

"You can sleep if you want. I'll wake you up when we get there."

She looked back at him and saw that he was also staring out his window. She could tell he wore uneasy expression through his reflection in the window.

At this, she did smile. "Thank you, sir," she muttered and settled her head against her seatbelt.

Mr. Big continued to look out the window of the police car, lost in thought. Suddenly, the car dipped a little to the right and his eyes widened. The officer met his irritated glare in his rearview mirror and chuckled. "Sorry…. Pothole," he explained then focused on the road again.

He glanced over at his assistant to make sure she hadn't woken up. It was at that precise moment that she lolled against his shoulder. He nearly jerked his shoulder away when he recalled how she had worked through the night to get his company's finances in order. The least he could do was let her sleep until they got to jail, right? But…what would happen once they actually got there?

A blush spread across his face as he stared at her sleeping face. Usually, Leslie was so closed-off that he couldn't tell what she was thinking. That unnerved him a little, if he was honest with himself.

But now she seemed tranquil. Slow, steady breaths against his shoulder let him know she was in a deep sleep. He hoped she was having a good dream, one far from the stress of her waking life.

He blinked in surprise, realizing he was actually very concerned for her. Not as much as he was about himself, but nearly there. Which was as close to affection as he could muster.

The CEO pouted and looked out the window again, trying to ignore the warm feeling in his chest. "Geez…" he muttered crossly.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The chapter title was inspired by the song "Afterglow" by Eyeshine. The song had the kind of muted feel I wanted to portray in this chapter. **

_**Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo!**_** was one of my favorite stories when I was a kid. I combed through all the kids' books I have left, but couldn't find any about robots, so…I picked this one.**


	9. Promises, Schmomises

**A/N: There are spoilers from the "Rhyme and Reason" two-parter for this chapter (the series finale), just to let you guys know.**

**Thanks to anonymous reviewers FluffyKitten, Guest, Hannah, Guest 27, and another Guest.**

**Super huge thanks to anonymous reviewer BookishOwl. Your review was one of the longest and most eloquently worded I've ever received. :') I reread it several times because it makes me really happy! And you're welcome to being Tobecky trash with me, lol.**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine:<strong>

**Promises, Schmomises**

**(Psst! Listen for the words **_**underhanded **_**and **_**coincide**_**)**

"Last time, on _WordGirl_—_"_

"_What?!_ Violet knows you're WordGirl?!" Scoops yelled and Becky quickly shushed him, looking side-to-side to make sure no one had heard him.

"…Or we could just cut right to the episode…. That works too," the Narrator said, sounding deflated.

The reporter grabbed Becky by the shoulders and shook her vigorously. "When did this happen?! Did you tell her I know?! _Tell me everything!_" he shouted, his eyes gleaming.

"Okay, okay!" she said and grabbed his arms. "Stop it!"

Scoops hunched his shoulders up, ashamed. "Sorry…."

She rubbed the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

He bit his lip and rocked on his heels, as if trying to contain himself, but it proved to be too much. He yelled, "But I'm just so excited, I could scream! Actually, I think I will! _AAAAAAAAH!_" He flailed around excitedly and almost knocked his hat off his head.

"_Scoops!_" Becky cried out, putting her hands to her ears. "Do you have to be so _loud?_ Ugh…."

His eyes widened. "Oh, right, super-hearing." He scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

After a moment or so, he asked, "So…how did she take it?"

Becky's eyes fell to the floor. "Well, she wasn't nearly as ecstatic as you were…. And…I didn't technically…_tell_ her about it. She kinda just…found out." Thinking back to that day created knots in her stomach.

The ace reporter looked taken aback. "What? How?"

She gripped her backpack straps tighter and sighed. "It's kind of a long story…."

"A good reporter doesn't run from any story, no matter how long it may be!" he declared dramatically.

The superheroine smiled at him and took a deep breath. "Alright…."

"Hey, you two!" Violet greeted them as she approached their lockers.

"Oh! Good morning, Violet! Wow, you've got good timing," Scoops commented.

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows. "I do?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Becky's about to tell me how you found out she's WordGirl."

He was being so nonchalant about it, Becky wanted to smack him. She hadn't told Violet that Scoops knew too, and wasn't sure how she'd take this information.

Violet met her eyes and the superheroine jolted. Noticing her friend's tension, the blonde put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Becky, it's okay. We can tell Scoops the story together."

Becky blinked. "You're…You're not mad?" she wondered, her eyes wide.

Violet looked away, clasping her hands behind her back. "Well, maybe a little bit…. But I'm sure you and Scoops will tell me how he found out your secret. So…it's fine." She took a deep breath and smiled.

Scoops grabbed the young artist by the shoulders and exclaimed, "I'm _so_ glad you know now, Violet! You won't _believe_ how hard it was to keep this from you!"

She blinked several times in astonishment then smiled at him. She removed his hands from his shoulders and intertwined them with her own. "It's alright, Scoops. I'm fine now."

A faint blush spread across his cheeks as he gave her a dopey grin. At this, Becky turned away. She was getting over Scoops, but it still hurt to see him act that way around Violet. She couldn't help but feel jealous, even if she wished the both of them all the happiness in the world.

She cleared her throat and the two looked over at her. Without looking back at them, she asked, "So…do you wanna start, Violet?"

"Oh…sure…. So Becky and I were taking photographs of nature, and…."

* * *

><p>"A few moments later…" the Narrator began. "I'm starting to feel like my appearances lately just coincide with transitions…."<p>

Tobey had his nose buried in a book about robot repairs when the three of them walked in. Much to his disdain, his heart leapt when he heard a familiar, enchanting laugh and he involuntarily looked up.

Of course it was Becky Botsford and her friends, babbling away about something. He scowled, glaring down at his book again.

These past few months, what with Katy's birthday party, that Thanksgiving dinner at her house, and the incident with her missing library book, she had unintentionally given him a great handful of evidence that she was indeed WordGirl. It almost amused him how terrible she was at covering up her secret identity.

But now….

Now he didn't know what to do. Now that he had all this evidence, he wasn't even sure what to do with it.

Before, there had been a line between Becky Botsford and WordGirl. Becky was one person, and WordGirl was another. Then the line became thinner and thinner until it was hard to tell if there was ever a line at all.

Tobey glanced over at her desk. Even if he was certain they were the same person, the images of WordGirl and Becky Botsford just could not coincide in his mind. They still felt…separate.

He sighed and looked back to his book. He shouldn't even be thinking about this. It was useless if he wanted to keep his end of their promise. He needed to focus on more important things like—

"…WordGirl."

Tobey sat up straight. Did he hear her right? Was Becky Botsford talking about WordGirl?

He leaned over a little closer to her desk, straining to hear. All he could catch was unintelligible murmuring at first, then….

"…flew away…Huggyface…robot…."

His eyes widened. That conversation they were having sounded very suspicious. He straightened and pretended to busy himself with taking out his homework. There had to be some way to listen to them….

He accidentally elbowed his pencil and it rolled off his desk onto the floor. He almost cursed his clumsiness when he realized it was rolling right under Becky's desk. His eyes gleamed. This was his chance!

The boy genius reached for his pencil and tried to hear whatever Becky was saying.

"…as WordGirl—"

Yes! It was working!

"Wait, Becky, I think Tobey just dropped something."

_No!_

Becky turned to look at him and he instinctively drew his hand away. He tried to look less like a deer in headlights by scowling. She glanced down at her feet and picked up his pencil.

"Here, Tobey." She offered it to him but he only glared at it.

He exhaled angrily and snatched it from her, mentally cursing himself for even coming up with such a ridiculous scheme.

The bell rang then, and Becky looked back at her friends. "So…talk to you guys later?"

"Sure. And I'm gonna need three more comments from you!" Scoops reminded her before taking a seat.

The boy genius put a hand to his temple and repressed a groan.

"Ooooh, tough luck, Tobey," the Narrator commented.

The boy genius dropped his head on his desk and said nothing else.

"Uh…. Meanwhile, on the other side of town…." The camera panned over to the bank.

The Butcher kicked the front door open and yelled, "Nobody move or I'll bury ya in pastrami!"

Besides the two bank tellers, there was only one other person there…and she was pointing a pair of knitting needles at a blonde teller. His eyes widened. "Granny May?!" he exclaimed, putting his hands down. "What're _you _doin' here?"

The elderly villain wrapped the teller up in purple yarn before whirling around to face him. "What am _I_ doin' here? What're _you_ doin' here?" she demanded.

He frowned. "Uh…robbin' the bank…."

She scowled at this. "Oh no, you're not! I told everybody at the last Villain Convention that _I _planned to rob the bank this week!"

The Butcher scratched his chin in thought. "That musta been when I fell asleep…" he said with a shrug.

"Ya _fell asleep_ when I was announcin' my crime plans?" she yelled, incredulous. "Butcha, you _know_ why we make those plans! It's so villain plans don't coincide with one another!" she shouted angrily.

"Well, yeah, but ya see, the little girl that watches my pet cat, Lil' Mittens, gave 'im back to me for a week like we agreed on, and the night before the convention, Lil' Mittens kept gettin' himself stuck in high places. It got really late before he got tired and went to sleep. So, yeah, I was exhosted, okay?" he explained, crossing his arms defensively.

"The word's _exhausted_, Butcha," Granny May grumbled. "And you should get goin'. _I'm_ robbin' the bank today!"

He pouted. "Aw…but I already made my threat and everythin'…."

"That's not my problem," she stated shortly and started bagging money.

"But—"

"Stop right there, Granny May! And, uh, Meat Guy! You can subtract this bank from your crime-filled equation!" a voice shouted from behind The Butcher.

He blinked and turned around, not recognizing the voice. A little boy in blue superhero get-up hovered near the entrance of the bank, just above The Butcher's eye-level.

The villain stared at him in confusion and asked, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who're you?"

The little boy cheerfully announced, "My name is Kid Math!" Glancing back at The Butcher, he asked, "And…who are you? Are you a villain?"

The villain looked offended. "Am I a villain? 'f _cou'se_ I'm a villain! I'm one of the biggest villains in this city! I'm The Butcher!"

He shook his head and asked, looking hurt, "Anyway, how come you knew about Granny May and not _me_?"

"We've run into each other a few times before…" Granny May piped up from behind him.

"Huh…." The villain crossed his arms and asked, "So you takin' over WordGirl's gig now?"

The small superhero waved his hands dismissively. "Oh no! I, Kid Math, am here to balance this city's superhero to supervillain ratio!" he announced proudly.

The Butcher stared at him, uncomprehending. "You're here ta…what now?"

"Balance this city's superhero to supervillain ratio!" he repeated and hovered closer to The Butcher. "When this city only had WordGirl, there was only one superhero fighting all the villains in this city! But one superhero can't handle lots of villains all on her own! It's unequal! And that's why I, Kid Math, am here! To help WordGirl stop the villains when she can't!"

The Butcher raised an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean 'when she can't'?"

"She has a life, you know," the Narrator pointed out.

Granny May snorted from behind The Butcher. "I'm too old to be dealin' with this nonsense," she muttered and aimed her knitting needles at Kid Math.

Purple yarn shot out of them and wrapped itself in a tight cocoon around the little superhero. He fell to the ground and wriggled around angrily. "Don't count this as a victory, Granny May!" he exclaimed and scooted on the ground like an inchworm.

The elderly villain smirked as she walked past him. "Easiest victory ever, I'd say," she retorted.

Just then, Kid Math snapped his yarn confines, a victorious grin on his face. "Ha ha! Well, you thought wrong!" he declared.

"Ham-a-lanche!" The Butcher shouted and a barrage of meat rained down on top of Kid Math.

A faint "_Mmph!_" came from under the pile of ham and The Butcher laughed.

"Ya might wanna recalcupate that, Math Shrimp!" he taunted, leaning towards the pile of meat with a grin.

The pile shifted a little as Kid Math struggled to break free. "That's _recalculate_, Butcher! And my name's not Math Shrimp! It's Kid—"

Granny May shot more purple yarn at the ham before he could burst out at the last second.

"Hey! Why is it harder to move around in this pile of ham?" Kid Math asked. "I can't…get out!"

The Butcher turned around incredulously, only to see Granny May grinning as she twirled her knitting needles expertly in both hands and put them back in her hair. He returned the smile and said, "'ey, nice!"

"Thank you, dearie," she said with a nod.

He scratched the back of his neck. "I guess I can rob some other joint then. I mean, I ain't picky."

The elderly villain rolled her eyes. "I hope our robbery plans don't coincide again…" she muttered as she walked away.

Jazzy music began to play then as Granny May rushed off to Reginald's jewelry store, only to find The Butcher burying the clerk in chicken pot pies when she got there. He gave her an uneasy grin, stepping aside to let her rob the store instead.

She rolled her eyes, took a few pricy diamonds, then left, with The Butcher awkwardly trailing after her.

She hit the store that sold gold items next. Granny May acted as if she couldn't reach some item on a higher shelf and, when the cashier went to help her, The Butcher burst in with an evil laugh.

The cashier shrieked. Granny May quickly took her perfume bottle out of her purse and sprayed it at the clerk before he could hit the WordGirl alarm. Unfortunately, The Butcher got a whiff of the perfume and began coughing along with the cashier.

She slapped a hand to her face and had to drag him out before he could faint.

The scene cut to her chatting up the grocery store manager in an attempt to rob him with fake coupons. The Butcher walked in and wasted no time in summoning a Hamburger Hurricane.

Unfortunately, his attack swept up Granny May as well. She kicked out from under the pile of meat and the grocery store manager, up to his chin in hamburger patties, shook his head at him. The Butcher scratched the back of his neck and pulled at her feet to free her.

Once she was on her own two feet again, she was seething, not noticing a patty still rested on top of her head. The Butcher swept it off quickly and gave her a thumbs-up.

She rubbed the bridge of her nose and, grabbing her stolen groceries, stormed out.

The Butcher and the grocery store manager exchanged glances before the villain heaved a sigh and followed after her.

The montage music ended then and the scene cut over to Tobey picking at his lunch tray, deep in thought.

_I'm not going to be able to rest until I figure out a solution to this dilemma. I'm not so underhanded as to break our promise, but I need just a little shred of _something_ to finally convince me that Becky is WordGirl. Then I can just leave it alone and go back to living my life._

He straightened his back when an idea formed in his mind.

_It seems…the only way to get close enough to Botsford to gather that last bit of evidence is…to…._ He gulped nervously. Associate_ with her._

He scowled. _But how am I supposed to do that? It's not like an excuse to be near her is just going to walk right up to me and—_

"'ey, kid, didn'tcha read the sign?" a janitor next to him asked suddenly, and he jumped.

He glared at him and grumbled, "What sign?"

The janitor pointed at a piece of paper taped to his lunch table that read: "Tables on the right side of the cafeteria cannot be used. We need to scrape the gum off the bottom of these tables. -Cleaning Staff P.S. This could be the excuse you're looking for to sit next to a new friend!"

The boy genius raised an eyebrow. "You think I would've seen that…."

The janitor gave a lazy shrug. "You think…."

Tobey rolled his eyes and began heading over to Becky's table. "I can't _believe_ an excuse to talk to Botsford actually walked right up to me…" he mumbled to no one in particular.

"There was literally a sign on the table," the Narrator pointed out.

The boy genius scowled. "I _said_ I didn't see it…."

"Hey, you said you needed an excuse. Well, now you have one."

Tobey took a deep breath then dumped his lunch next to Becky's, making her jolt. This surprise quickly turned to confusion then guarded suspicion.

Scoops and Violet just looked puzzled. Then again, he didn't really anticipate the two airheads from suspecting much from him. The only real person he needed to worry about was Becky.

His eyes flickered between all of them. "Afternoon, chums," he greeted and sat down.

"Hi," Violet replied when no one else said anything.

He glanced at Becky and rolled his eyes. "Oh, please, Botsford. I wouldn't sit here if I had any other choice. The janitors are just scrapping the gum from under the table I usually sit at. They _made_ me move here."

She gave him a once-over then shrugged. She turned back to Violet and began, "So, anyway, we need to talk to Rose after school. We need to let her know that you know that…."

Her eyes flickered over to Tobey, who looked puzzled. She sighed and made a rolling motion with her hand. "You know…."

Violet gave her a strained smile. "Okay, Becky. Sounds fine."

The superheroine seemed oblivious to her friend's tension and smiled back. "Great!"

Scoops, on the other hand, did notice. He sat up a little straighter, then said, "So there's this new art exhibit coming to the museum next week. Guess what it is?"

As he had hoped, Violet perked up. "Oh! I know! The museum is going to showcase some ancient, greasy vases!"

Tobey furrowed his eyebrows. "Don't you mean _Ancient Greece_?"

She shook her head. "No, I meant greasy. They're made out of meat," she explained.

Becky wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Yuck! That sounds awful…."

"It's not awful, Becky! It's art! Ancient, greasy art," Violet muttered with a far-off look on her face.

Scoops continued, "Yeah, and I heard they're in the back of the museum right now. Pretty sure The Butcher's gonna try and steal them."

"Well, that _is_ his thing," Tobey pointed out with a roll of his eyes.

"WordGirl will stop him. She always does," Becky said, trying not to show how proud she was of this fact.

Suddenly, she heard a faint "_WordGirl! Heeeeeeelp!_" coming from what sounded like the museum.

"Already? That was fast…" she mumbled.

"Hm, it's almost like whenever someone talks about something happening this episode, it happens," the Narrator said, sounding amused.

She waved dismissively at him. "Oh, c'mon. Talking about The Butcher and this crime coinciding is just random chance."

"If you say so."

She stood up and announced, "I'm gonna go figh—" She stopped herself when she remembered that Tobey was with them. He stared at her with a curious expression while Scoops and Violet urged for her to get a move on. It was honestly a huge relief to have the both of them know…and have them help her lie.

"Go...f-find Bob!" she stated quickly and dashed out of the cafeteria.

* * *

><p>WordGirl zoomed by the bank and saw a pile of meat outside. Her eyes widened. She hadn't heard the alarm, which could only mean….<p>

The superheroine stopped right in front of the pile and inspected it closely. It was wrapped in purple yarn and—

"You…urgh…won't get away with this!" a muffled voice said from under the meat.

"Wait…I know that voice…" WordGirl muttered then called out, "Kid Math, is that you under there?"

"WordGirl! There are exactly fifty-two hams on top of me, and I can't get out!" he yelled anxiously.

She started pulling at the yarn surrounding the ham. "Okay, hold on—Wait, how do you know how many hams are on top of you?" she wondered, raising an eyebrow.

It was silent for a moment, then he replied, "I've been stuck under here for a while."

She stared at the pile bewilderedly before she shook her head and snapped the yarn, causing the hams to tumble down.

Kid Math soared upwards and stretched, feeling relieved. "Whew! Thanks, WordGirl! Glad I could count on you for help!" he said, beaming at her.

"So…judging by this yarn and the meat, I'm guessing Granny May and The Butcher teamed up? And set an underhanded trap, at that." She kicked at the meat pile.

"Underhanded?" Kid Math asked, tilting his head.

Her eyes widened. "Oh! _Underhanded_ means sly or deceitful. Like how trapping you with both meat _and_ really strong yarn was _underhanded_ because you probably haven't handled a team-up before. Add that to the fact that most of the city knows you're still new, and that's just downright mean. Cheating at a card game is also _underhanded_."

"Oooooh, I get it now!" the small superhero exclaimed.

She turned around and said, "C'mon, I heard someone cry for help at the museum! They've gotta be there! Word up!"

Kid Math zoomed up after her, shouting confidently, "Your number's up!"

* * *

><p>"Granny May, look, I'm runnin' outta places to rob here. Can't you just let me rob the museum? I mean, they got some meat vases in the back I want," The Butcher grumbled as blasted the museum curator with meatballs.<p>

She turned to scowl at him after wrapping up the security guard in yarn. "No! I told you _I'm_ robbin' the museum! And if ya had just stayed awake at the last Villain Convention to hear my crime plans in the first place, none of our robberies would've coincided today!"

"Look, I don't appezeate what yer insimmerating here, Granny May," he said and put his hands on his hips.

The elderly villain narrowed her eyes. "Uh…what?"

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I know you got the whole old-lady-thing goin' on—"

Granny May scowled. "It's not that I can't _hear _you. I can't understand what yer tryin'a tell me!"

"Well, I hope you understand _me_ when I say you're both going to jail!" a voice sounded from behind The Butcher.

He whipped around, astonished. "WordGirl!" he growled.

A blue streak of light rushed in and Granny May gasped, "Kid Math too?!"

He smiled triumphantly. "Uh-huh! WordGirl plus Kid Math is greater than—"

"Any villain team-up!" WordGirl finished with a proud smile.

Granny May looked taken aback. "What? We're not teaming up! Our robberies just kept coinciding with each other, is all."

"Yeah!" The Butcher frowned. "Wait, what?"

WordGirl explained, "Coinciding. When two things _coincide_, they happen at the same time. Like how the last day of October _coincides_ with Halloween, or how your robberies _coincided_ because you two wanted to rob the same places at the same time…I guess."

He perked up a little at learning this new word. "Oh. Thanks!"

She returned his smile. "Yeah, no problem."

"Actually, there is a bit of a problem, dear," Granny May declared in a sugary voice.

WordGirl raised an eyebrow. "Really? What is it?"

"This!" the elderly villain shouted and aimed her knitting needles at the superheroine. Purple yarn shot towards her and—

"Ha!" Kid Math shouted and pushed her out of the way, taking the fall.

She gasped as he fell to the floor in a fuzzy heap and yelled, "Oh no! Kid Math!"

No sooner had she called out to him than The Butcher bellowed, "Sausage Cyclone!"

WordGirl hastily dodged the sausage links with a little yell, then glared at him. "Hey!" she protested.

Granny May shot more yarn at her. She only narrowly avoided the attack before looking down at Kid Math wriggling around on the floor.

She groaned. "Ugh, of all the days for Huggy to stay home! And all to see that silly soap opera marathon!"

The scene cut to Bob staring at the T.V. with tears in his eyes. Several crumpled tissues lay strewn around him and he blew his nose into another one as he continued crying.

"Ugh, Kid Math! I could use some help here!" she shouted as she avoided several steaks flying toward her.

"Will this be the end of WordGirl? Will Kid Math break free from his yarn cocoon? Will I ever get a bigger part in this story?" the Narrator asked.

"Kid Math!" WordGirl yelled, exasperated.

The smaller superhero rolled around and spewed, "Oh no! I'm caught in this trap, while I watch helplessly on as—"

"What are you doing?!" she roared.

He glanced up at her, confused. "Well, you told me to pretend to be trapped to build suspense—"

"Forget about that right now! Drop the soliloquy and help me before—"

"Meatball Mayhem!"

A hail of meatballs suddenly rained down on her and she screamed. She struggled to a sitting position and coughed out a few meatballs before glaring up at The Butcher.

"I thought you said you weren't teaming up…" she grumbled and coughed out another meatball.

The Butcher shrugged. "I mean, we don't wanna go ta jail."

"Well, I've gotta be goin' now, dears, so ta-ta!" Granny May exclaimed and hit a button on her pearl necklace. Her mechanical flying suit assembled around her and she took off, leaving a trail of smoke after her.

The Butcher glanced at the two trapped superheroes then bolted for the exit.

"Are we gonna let them get away?" Kid Math wondered, looking over at WordGirl with a curious expression.

"Nope," she replied and flew out of the pile of meatballs after the villains.

Kid Math snapped the yarn surrounding him and followed after her. "Do you have a plan? It's not logical to go against two supervillains without a plan," he advised her.

"Yeah. Can you get The Butcher while I take care of Granny May? And no pretending to be trapped to build suspense anymore. We just don't have the time for that in an eleven-minute episode."

"You can count on me!" he declared and flew off.

The superheroine followed the trail of smoke Granny May's suit left behind and soon found herself flying over the elderly villain. She reached down, removed her jetpack, then grabbed her wrist before she could fall to the ground.

"Aw, fiddlesticks!" the elderly villain shouted in frustration before WordGirl flew the both of them back to the museum, where a bunch of police cars had already gathered. She gave Granny May and her bag of stolen goods over to the officers and saw that Kid Math had done the same with the Butcher.

The superheroes smiled triumphantly and gave each other high-fives before zooming away.

* * *

><p>They landed just in front of the school, a flash of light behind a tree indicating they had changed back into their regular clothes.<p>

"Well, I gotta get back to my other friends. It was nice having you help me, though, Becky!" Rex said with a grateful smile.

"Likewise! And it's great that you're getting a hang of the whole superhero thing!" she replied with a nod.

He beamed at her then waved goodbye as he wandered off to his lunch table.

"Hey, Becky. Where's Bob?" Violet asked as soon as she came back.

"Bob?" she repeated, looking confused.

Scoops cleared his throat and she glanced at him. He tilted his head to the right, his eyes continuously flickering to Tobey. She understood what he meant and gave him a slight nod as thanks.

"Oh, right. He wanted to go home early because he didn't wanna miss his soap opera," she explained, taking her seat next to the boy genius.

It was then she noticed a bunch of papers scattered around and she raised an eyerbrow. "Tobey, what's all this?" she wondered.

He didn't look up at her when he snapped, "None of your business, Becky."

She frowned at him. "Well, sorry I asked."

"You should be sorry because I lost my place because of you! Now I have to start all over again…" he grumbled, putting a hand to his temple.

As aggravating as his words were, she couldn't help but be curious as to what the papers were for. Upon further investigation, she noticed that he was scribbling furiously in a notebook, only pausing to look at a book in front of him or to pick up one of the scraps of paper and compare it to what he had written.

Something written on one of the papers caught her eye and she blurted out, "Is that a two or a seven?"

Tobey glared at her. "What?"

She pointed at a sheet full of calculations under his elbow. "There. That number. It should be two, right? But here…." She pointed further down the page. "It looks like you put in seven instead of two, so your answer's off."

His eyes widened and he picked up the paper, leaning closer to study it carefully. He blinked in surprise when he realized she was right.

Rather than thanking her, he muttered, "Curse my sloppy handwriting. I can't believe I made such an idiotic error." He crumpled several pieces of paper and tossed them into the trashcan with a sigh. "That explains a lot…."

Seeming to realize something, he looked at her warily and asked, "Wait, how could you tell my answer was off?"

Becky shrugged. "I didn't read _Complicated Robotics for the Advanced Engineer_ for nothing."

He stared at her for a few seconds then focused on his notebook again. "You _do_ realize you just helped me in building a robut," he pointed out, his tone sounding neutral.

"Well, I kind of figured. Why else would you be working so hard?"

The boy genius blinked. "And you helped me anyway? You're not the least bit concerned that this robut could very well destroy the city?" he asked, looking incredulous.

Becky couldn't help but smirk. "No, because I know WordGirl's going to stop it no matter what." She glanced down at his notes and added, "And besides, those are designs for a robot chef."

He flushed at this and snapped his notebook closed. "Stop looking at my notes, you nosy fool."

"What're you building a robot chef for? Doesn't your mom cook for you?"

His expression soured. "No. Not that it's any of your business, anyway."

"Why not?"

He rolled his eyes. "Why do you care? And enough with the interrogation already. You're starting to sound like Miss Question." He turned his attention back to his work, annoyed.

Before she could respond, the lunch bell rang. Tobey quickly gathered his things, shoved them in his backpack, and walked off without another word.

Becky scowled. "Geez, what's his problem? Those were innocent enough questions…."

Scoops raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that how you two usually talk?"

She pouted. "Well, yeah, but I thought we were starting to get on better terms. He's much more tolerable to talk to than he was a year ago, at least," she muttered with a shrug.

"He seems the same to me…."

She opened her mouth to protest but stopped short. Was she about to defend _Tobey,_ of all people?

Then again, she knew she was right. As odd as this was for her to say, Scoops didn't know Tobey the way she did. He didn't know that Tobey acted much brattier a year ago, and that he only seemed ruder now because he chose to speak up more around his classmates. In fact, she found his sarcasm almost amusing.

He had calmed down considerably in the last year alone, which, if she was honest, impressed her. He was less focused on beating WordGirl and more on his passion for building robots. She _had_ noticed that his robots had become more formidable, even if she would never admit it to anyone.

He had shown her that he was more trustworthy, too. And his latest attacks on the city seemed to coincide with his being provoked into it, even if some of his reasons were petty.

Scoops didn't really capture that aspect of Tobey in his newspaper articles. Or…any of the aspects of Tobey that she knew of, really.

She wouldn't necessarily say that the boy genius had grown. In some ways, he was still the same, irritating boy that was way too full of himself.

But there was something about him lately that drew her towards him. She couldn't put her finger on what that was, however.

"Anyway, thanks for covering for me back there, guys."

"No problem, Becky! You're out there fighting bad guys! Even if it isn't much, we'd like to help you any way we can," Violet said and gave her friend a thumbs-up.

The superheroine smiled at her friends. "Thanks. You two really are the best friends I could ever ask for."

Just as the trio got in their seats, Miss Davis looked over at the class and announced, "Now, class, as many of you know, this school year is unfortunately going to end soon."

Wails of protest sounded throughout the room and many of the students looked mournful.

She waved at them to be quiet. "I know. I know. I don't want this year to end either. It's been such a pleasure teaching all of you bright kids. It's definitely been one of the most…eventful years in all my years of teaching."

Her eyes flickered to Tobey and Becky for a moment before she continued, "But we're not done yet! You all have one final project to do, and then you can consider yourselves practically graduated!"

She started handing out packets of papers to her students as she explained, "It'll be a group project, so you can work with your friends! Four people maximum in a group, alright?"

Becky looked over the packet with a small frown. "Wait, Miss Davis?" she asked, raising her hand.

"Yes, Becky?"

"This says we're doing a book report. How are we supposed to do a book report with four people?"

Her teacher's eyes gleamed. "Right, I'm getting to that. See, the school is requiring a book report as a final project for sixth graders, and I thought that was kinda boring. It doesn't really end the year off with a bang, you know? So I thought I'd make it more fun by adding another piece to it."

She picked up her copy of the packet and read off, "'In addition to a two-page book report about a book of your group's choice…yada, yada…. Oh! Here! Turn to the second page, everyone!

"You get to tell the class about the book your group chose, in any way you like! You can perform a skit of a chapter from the book, you can make a Powerpoint presentation, build a diorama, whatever! As long as it demonstrates that you all read your book and it's within legal limits." She looked pointedly at Tobey and added, "That means no giant robots dueling with lampposts so you can reenact the last scene of _Hamlet_, Tobey."

He rolled his eyes but said nothing to this.

"Okay, so for the remainder of the day, I want you guys to form your groups and decide what you're going to do for your project. I'm just gonna take a nap at my desk, but you can wake me if you need anything," Miss Davis stated and collapsed in her chair. She soon began snoring lightly, and this signaled the students to start working.

Becky stood up and instantly wandered to Violet's desk. Scoops soon joined her and asked, "So what book are we gonna do our project on?"

"_Princess Triana! _One of the _Princess Triana_ books!" Becky shouted excitedly.

Violet nodded. "Oh, I love those books!"

"I haven't read the books, but I've seen the movies," Scoops added with a shrug.

Becky's eyes gleamed with excitement. "Alright! This project is gonna be so fun!"

"What's going to be fun, Botsford?" a familiar voice asked from behind her. She whirled around, startled, only to come face-to-face with Tobey.

"Oh…. Uh, hi, Tobey…" she greeted awkwardly.

He hummed in response. His attention then flickered to Violet and he asked, "So, what book are we doing for this project?"

Before she could respond, Becky cut in, "Wait, _we?_ What do you mean, _we?"_

"Miss Davis told me I couldn't work alone, and the other groups are full," he replied, not looking at her.

After a moment of silence, Becky sighed and said, "We were thinking one of the _Princess Triana _books. I know you've read them, so, uh, which book do you think we should do?"

He perked up a little. "Oh! Hm…." He put a hand to his chin in thought. "The first one, perhaps? You know, just in case someone in our class hasn't read the series yet."

Her eyes widened. "Wow, that's…awfully considerate of you…."

Tobey frowned. "What? I just don't want anyone who hasn't read the series to gape like an imbecile at our presentation if we chose a book from later in the series. They won't understand what's going on," he explained.

"Aaaand there goes that last shred of good opinion I had of you," she grumbled, rolling her eyes.

He smirked. "Hmph, good riddance."

She deadpanned. "You wanna wave it off?" she wondered sarcastically.

His smirk only grew. "Perhaps I should give it a eulogy." He cleared his throat and began solemnly, "Farewell, Becky's good opinions about me. You will be remembered fondly, and—"

Becky shoved at him playfully, trying not to laugh. "_Stop_."

A more genuine smile crossed his face then. "Hm, perhaps they're not gone, after all."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"Hey, Becky!" Violet called out and she looked over in surprise. "We should rewatch the first _Princess Triana_ movie at your house. Scoops just told me he doesn't remember much about it, and I don't have any of the movies."

Becky grinned. "Yeah! Oh…wait…." She looked over at Tobey.

He immediately scowled. "What? Am I not invited? Because—"

She waved her hands in front of her frantically. "No, no, no! I mean, yes, you are invited, but you gotta remember to call your mom first. Remember…um…the last time…."

His eyes widened and he looked away. "O-Oh, right. The last time…."

He took his phone out of his pocket, but, before he could even unlock it, Becky scolded, "You can't tell her now! We're in class!"

Tobey rolled his eyes. "Miss Davis is asleep. Besides, she said we were to work on our projects until the day is done. This is technically for our project, yes?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, but—"

"I just texted her."

Becky blinked. "Wait, already?"

A little _blip_ on Tobey's phone indicated he had received a text back. He scanned over it and looked up at her again. "She said it's fine."

"Oh, well, okay." She stared at his phone for a few seconds then asked, "Hey, can I use that? I wanna call my dad and tell him that you guys are coming over. He might make popcorn or something."

He smirked as he offered the phone to her. "Oh, look who's breaking the rules _now_," he taunted.

"Be quiet. Anyway, it _is_ for our project…" she said as she dialed her number.

It rang for a few seconds before her dad's voice answered cheerfully, "_You've reached the Botsford residence! This is Tim Botsford speaking._"

"Hi, Dad!" she greeted.

"_Becky? How are you calling me? And aren't you still in school, young lady?"_ he asked, sounding stern.

"Well, yeah. Long story short, we've been assigned a group project and my group is coming over to our house later to watch the first _Princess Triana _movie. …Yes, it's part of our project. It's a book report…. No, it's due in two weeks, so Scoops doesn't have enough time to…. Oh, me, Violet, Scoops, and Tobey…. I'm using his phone, actually. …_Yes_, Miss Davis said it was okay as long as it was for our project…. Uh-huh…. Yeah…. Sounds awesome! Okay, love you too! Bye!"

She hung up and handed the phone back to Tobey. "He said he'd make caramel corn for everyone while we watch. Oh, and, uh, he's gonna join us in watching the movie," she explained, looking embarrassed.

Remembering something, she looked over at Scoops and Violet and shouted, "Oh! Wait, don't you have to tell Rose that, um, that thing?"

Violet furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh yeah. Well, you and Tobey can go on ahead and we'll catch up later. I'm sure it won't take long, anyway."

Scoops pursed his lips. "Should take five…ten minutes. Depends on how long we can sum up Violet's story to her. Just don't start the movie without us, okay?"

"Sure. Wait, are we gonna take your robot to my house again?" she asked, looking at Tobey.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, why wouldn't we? I'm certainly not going to _walk_ all the way to your house."

"Exercise is good for you, Tobey."

He rolled his eyes. "Ah, yes. I love sweating and having sore muscles."

She snorted at that bit of sarcasm.

It was then the bell rang, and the group dispersed to pack up their things.

_Why is Tobey so easy to get along with now? It's so strange. Before I wanted nothing to do with him, but…._

She peeked behind her and saw him packing up diligently. He wasn't angrily muttering about being stuck in her group or even showing any attitude about it, really. He seemed surprisingly complacent. Weird.

_He's actually okay being in a group with me? Even if he hates my guts?_

Something he had said to her two weeks ago flashed in her mind then.

"'_You don't feel uncomfortable being alone with me?'"_

Back then, she wasn't sure what he had been asking. Now, however….

_Does he…want to be my friend?_ she wondered, turning to fully face him. _Is he uncomfortable around me because he wants to be my friend but doesn't know how? Is that why he keeps popping up everywhere?_

Becky frowned. _But…why's he holding back?_

Her eyes widened and she gripped her backpack straps tighter. _It's because of my end of the promise. Even if he tried to be my friend, our promise prevents me from even trying to reciprocate that friendship._

She scowled. _That's ridiculous! I can't just ignore someone who wants a friend! And if that friend could be me, then all the better!_

Tobey zipped his backpack closed and thought, _I don't know if this project will even result in success, but I do know that this is my one and only chance to find out, once and all, if Becky Botsford really is WordGirl…._

They both sighed and the boy genius turned to face her.

She exhaled slowly and gave him an awkward smile. _Well, I'm about to _completely_ shatter our promise. But you know what? s_he thought, as if challenging that.

He returned the smile, looking puzzled as to why she was beaming at him.

Her smile grew more genuine then.

_Promise, schmomise._

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Boom. The Tobecky train is on full throttle, folks. You're welcome.**

**Also, technically, Tobey isn't breaking his promise. He promised he'd stop bothering Becky about it, and, well, he's not pestering her about it. He's taking his own initiative this time. Ironic that it was the superheroine that's gonna break her promise and not the supervillain, hm? :P**

**Aaaaand we get an appearance by Kid Math. :) You could say there were…**_**countless**_** math puns in this chapter because of him. 8) Okay, that was bad, I'll stop. XD**


	10. A Fine Line

**A/N: Ridiculous amounts of Tobecky fluff await thee. **

**Thanks to BookishOwl, Lily, Post It Out, Turtle777, and both Guests for your reviews!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten:<strong>

**A Fine Line**

**(Psst! Listen for the words _amiable_ and _adamant_)**

"Last time, on _WordGirl, _Tobey and Becky were forced to participate in a group project together. Which, normally, would be a cause for concern, but…."

The camera zoomed down to focus on Tobey's robot strolling through the city. The two kids sat on opposite shoulders, lost in thought. Becky had made a few attempts at small talk earlier, but he had only given her short answers, so she gave up on the idea.

"…Well, they haven't argued yet. That's a start."

They soon arrived outside her house. The robot held out its hand to the shoulder Tobey had been sitting on and he stepped onto it. He pushed another button and the hand swung to the shoulder Becky was on, jolting the boy genius a little in the sudden movement. Smacking his remote, he glared back at his robot, grumbling something under his breath about malfunctioning.

He peeked at Becky over his shoulder. "There's something going on with my robut. I meant to have its other hand lower you down. But—" He pushed a button on his remote experimentally. Nothing happened. "It's not working for some reason. So we'll have to be lowered together."

She furrowed her eyebrows at him, and almost asked why he didn't just have his robot lower them separately, but his solemn expression made her reconsider. If she had asked, he would only get irritated, and this _was_ a lot faster than going down one at a time, but….

Well, there wasn't a whole lot of room on the robot's palm. Which meant that she would have to stand close to him. Not that she cared, of course. Why should she be bothered that she might accidentally brush shoulders with him? She shouldn't be flustered by a little physical contact.

Becky took a step forward, staring straight ahead. If he noticed her guarded expression, he didn't point it out or tease her about it. Instead, he pushed a button and the robot's hand staggered to the ground.

The unsteady movement jarred Becky and she flailed about, trying to regain her balance. She careened into Tobey and clung to him so she wouldn't tumble off the robot's hand and plummet to the ground. He seemed to have lost his balance as well, because he grabbed onto her shoulders with a startled cry.

Her face was buried in his shoulder, and she felt him stiffen. He smelled like clean laundry that had been drying out in the sun, and felt as warm as it too. She lurched back, her face burning.

Tobey stared at her, horrified, before the robot's hand came to a complete stop on the ground. He scowled at his robot one last time as it powered down, and it let out a hiss that sounded an awful lot like satisfied laughter. A small plume of gray smoke poured out of its mouth and he frowned. Well, there was no way he was going to have a ride home _now_. Not with it breaking down and acting so insubordinate.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed a button on his remote, hoping at least this one function would work. The robot began to tremble then compact in on itself until it was no bigger than a pen. Tobey scooped it up and put it carefully in his bag, only to notice Becky's wide-eyed stare.

He rose an eyebrow. "…What?"

Pointing at his bag, she asked, "How was your robot able to _do_ that? I mean, that shouldn't even be possible for it to shrink without, like, a shrink ray or something!"

"This is a show where villains use food for weapons. I doubt breaking the Law of Conservation of Mass is gonna bother the target audience much," the Narrator pointed out, something like a shrug in his voice.

"Yes, this show teaches children about words, not physics," Tobey agreed.

Becky ran a hand over her face. "Okay, okay. Let's just get inside before I get a headache thinking about all of this." She pointed up at the sky and at Tobey and ordered, "And stop breaking the fourth wall, you two."

"Unlike Tobey, breaking the fourth wall is part of my job," the Narrator stated.

The boy genius puffed out his chest, placing his hand over his heart for emphasis. "And _I_ can do whatever I please, Botsford. You're not my mother. Thank goodness for that."

She threw her hands up in the air. "You're unbelievable…" she grumbled as she fished out her house keys.

As soon as she opened the door, she announced, "I'm home!"

"Hey, Becky!" Her dad's voice floated down the stairs. "Are your friends with you?"

She hesitated for a moment before replying, "Just Tobey!" She glanced back at him, unsure of how he would react.

Tobey raised an eyebrow at her but only cupped a hand over his mouth and announced, "Hello, Mr. Botsford!"

"Hi, Tobey! There's caramel corn on the table! I'm just gonna get something real quick then I'll join you guys, okay?"

Becky tossed her backpack in front of her and plopped herself on the couch. "Sounds good, dad!"

Tobey shucked off his bag, throwing it in the seat next to him before grabbing one of the bowls of caramel corn on the table in front of them.

Frowning, she advised, "We should wait for Scoops and Violet to get here."

He threw her a peeved side-glance. "I'm hungry," he insisted and tossed some popcorn in his mouth for emphasis.

"Still—"

Her stomach growled in protest. Tobey snickered, his infuriating grin making her blush. Tugging the bowl to her, she grumbled, "Yeah, yeah. At least share…."

No sooner had she grabbed a handful than some security alarm rang off in the distance. She shut her eyes, willing herself not to hurl the popcorn to the floor in frustration.

Becky took a moment to eat the caramel corn in her hand before standing up and announcing, "I just remembered…Bob needs to know you're here."

He gave a light shrug as an answer.

She started up the stairs when, remembering something, turned around and ordered, "Don't you dare eat all the popcorn. I mean it, McCallister."

"And if I refuse?" His smirk was like a challenge.

She put her hands on her hips. "Well, my dad will probably make more. But _you _won't get any."

"Botsford, believe you me, when I want something badly enough, I'll find a way to get it." The way he stared at her from over his glasses, with those half-lidded, amused, infuriatingly teasing eyes, made her breath hitch and heat crawl over her face.

She whirled around to hide her blush. "And I'll find a way to stop you. Like I _always_ do." She put as much emphasis into that one word as she could, and was satisfied with his silence.

She was grateful to whoever it was who decided to commit a crime now. Better to immerse herself in a battle than recall that mocking look Tobey gave her. Or how warm he was when she accidentally clung to him. Or how she might have liked how he smelled like freshly dried laundry and summer. Or—

She kicked her room door open, repressing the scream bubbling in her throat.

Bob sat up in his hammock, his eyes wide.

"Someone's trying to rob the bank. Let's go." Her voice sounded breathless, even to her own ears.

She grabbed Bob by the arm before he could ask her what was wrong and the two hurtled into the sky.

* * *

><p>"A few minutes later…" the Narrator announced.<p>

WordGirl burst through her window and, in a flash of light, transformed back into average Becky Botsford.

"Steve McClean is losing his edge. If he doesn't watch out, he could become the next Amazing Rope Guy!" she joked, making Bob snicker.

"Don't you have something to tell Bob?" the Narrator prompted.

Her smile fell. "Oh, uh, Tobey's…here." He raised an eyebrow, so she hastily added, "For a group project! Scoops and Violet are coming over too! Did I mention Dad made caramel corn?"

She expected him to rile himself up into a lecture, but all he did was shrug. She narrowed her eyes. "That's it? A shrug? You're not gonna warn me off or something?"

"You can handle yourself." He waved at her dismissively.

As the two walked downstairs, Bob asked, "Aren't you gonna wear your Princess Triana costume?"

"With Tobey here? I wouldn't do something so embarrass—"

"And here she is now!" her dad announced as the two of them reached the bottom of the stairs.

Becky gawked with absolute horror as her father swept his heavy purple cape behind him. Her father wore a mauve tunic with an elegant golden crest stitched on it over an olive long-sleeved shirt. White, faux fur lined the edges of the cape, and Tobey slapped it away when it swung into his face. A large plastic sword hung at his belt, sheath and all.

Tim fixed the plastic crown slipping down his head with a smile. "Oh, Becky! Tobey and I were just talking about the Botsford movie-watching traditions!"

She blinked several times, taken aback, before she yelled, "Dad! Why are you _wearing_ that?!"

He looked down at himself. "What? It's just my King Cedric costume. I always dress up as King Cedric when we watch the Princess Triana movies. Speaking of which, why aren't you wearing your Princess Triana costume?"

"Wha—?! Bu—I…." Tobey threw her a delighted smirk, and she flushed. "But—"

"Rooooaaaar!" T.J. cried out behind her and she whirled around. He was dressed in a worn-out red dragon costume with bulging green eyes. His head peeked out from the costume's mouth.

"Seriously, T.J.?" Becky groaned.

He stared at her, an eyebrow raised. "How come you're not wearing your Princess Triana costume?" he asked, as if it was outrageous for her _not _to join in her family's madness.

Which it _was_, but Tobey didn't have to know that.

Looking from her brother to her father to Tobey, she huffed, "Maybe I don't want to, alright? In fact, I'm adamant in my decision."

Putting a finger to his chin, Tim Botsford asked, "Uh…adamant?"

She crossed her arms and explained, sounding impatient, "When someone is _adamant_, it means they're stubborn, or they don't want to change their mind. Like how _I'm_ adamant about how I won't wear my Princess Triana costume, or how you two are probably _adamant_ about wearing your costumes while we watch the movie no matter what I say."

Her father nodded. "Yes, I _am_ adamant about wearing my King Cedric costume! We've dressed up with these movies since you were a toddler."

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling as if he could see the memories play out there. "I remember the first time you came up with the idea, Becky. It was so cute. You just came downstairs one day, all dressed up like Belle from _Beauty and the Beast_. You even tried to put your hair up like her! Oh, and you had your mother's lipstick smeared on your mouth—"

"Yeah, yeah, okay, Dad! We get it!" she cut in, frantically waving for him to stop.

It was then the doorbell rang, and Becky breathed a sigh of relief. They couldn't have had better timing. "That must be Scoops and Violet. I'll just go answer that…."

Turning away from her humiliation, Becky went to open the door.

* * *

><p>"So the headline for my next story is gonna be 'Meat Your Maker'!" Scoops explained. He spread his arms out in front of him, as if picturing how it would look. "It's gonna be an interview with the old artist who created those meat vases that are gonna be on display at the museum soon."<p>

Instead of becoming ecstatic, Violet only muttered something incoherent in reply.

Concerned, he took her hand in his and asked, "Hey, are you okay? You've been down ever since Becky mentioned telling Rose everything."

Though grabbing her hand out of nowhere might have been a bit intrusive, it just felt right to him. He wanted to let her _know_ he was there for her.

Her tiny smile reassured him somewhat. She laced her fingers through his and looked away, the smile fading.

"Scoops…" she began.

He leaned a little closer to her. "Yeah?"

She remained silent for a few moments, but he wasn't going to rush her. Violet got around to things in her own time, and he respected that.

"How did you feel when you found out that Becky was WordGirl?" she asked, at last.

The reporter put a hand to his head. "Oh, boy, where do I _begin_? I was excited, of course. I mean, finding out one of your friends is a _superhero?_ That's so cool!" He cleared his throat, trying to act nonchalant. "I mean, I sort of knew the whole time, but I didn't have anything concrete. Putting all the pieces together, like how she always randomly disappears or how she had the weirdest excuses, it was sort of obvious after the fact."

Peering over at him, she asked, "But did you feel sad at all?"

"To be honest, I was a little sad." He shrugged, as if it wasn't that big a deal. "But I didn't have much time to dwell on it since the whole city was being mind-controlled and I had to fight Doctor Two-Brains and Mr. Big."

Violet's gaze dropped to the ground. "…That's good."

He tilted his head. "Why'd you bring it up?" he asked.

With a sigh, she replied, "It's just…Rose. When she was telling me how she found out, I got the sense that she didn't really feel _anything_. Becky's secret meant nothing to her personally. But she found out before me. I'm Becky's _best friend_. Shouldn't I have found out before either of you?"

His eyes widened. Violet seemed she was okay with knowing Becky was WordGirl, but he hadn't thought about how much of a burden that knowledge really was on her.

He gave her hand an affectionate squeeze. "I found out by accident, and Rose gathered the evidence herself. Becky didn't have much of a choice in both instances. I don't think she would have told either of us unless she had to."

Her eyes glimmered with something like hope when she turned to look at him.

"But you're different, Violet," he went on. "I think Becky _wanted_ to tell you, but something always got in the way. Like a villain committing a crime somewhere, or she had some event to go to as WordGirl."

"You think so?" she whispered.

"You're best friends, aren't you?"

They paused at Becky's doorstep and he reached out to ring the doorbell.

"Thanks, Scoops," Violet whispered and leaned over to plant a quick kiss on his cheek.

His hand dropped immediately and he stared at her with wide eyes. It was as if that peck had short-circuited his brain, and now he couldn't process anything.

She giggled at his expression, then slipped her hand out of his and rang the doorbell.

* * *

><p>"Hey, guys!" Becky greeted as she ushered them in.<p>

"Hi, Becky!" Violet said.

Scoops shuffled in and mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, but Becky assumed it was a greeting of some sort.

She ignored Tobey's snickering as she sat next to him and pulled the bowl of caramel corn to her. Bob sat on her other side, his eyes flicking back and forth from the popcorn to Tobey. He had said Becky could handle herself, but that hadn't meant he wasn't going to keep an eye on the kid. He doubted he would try anything with so many people around, but it was better safe than sorry.

"Alright, let's get this movie started!" Tim announced and swept his cape behind him dramatically as he turned around to pop the VHS tape in the VCR.

Violet glanced at T.J. bouncing eagerly in his seat as he waited for the movie to start then turned to her best friend. "Becky, I thought you had a Princess Triana costume. Shouldn't you be wearing it?" she wondered with a puzzled frown.

Becky slouched in her seat when she caught Tobey start to snicker at the question. "Why does everyone keep asking me this today? I don't want to wear it, okay?" she grumbled.

"What a shame. I would've certainly liked to see your cosplay," Tobey said with a teasing grin.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, you're not going to."

Tobey smirked, but it soon faded when he caught Bob's suspicious glare.

_Doesn't he have anything better to do than glare at me like that? He's such a nuisance. Hmph, he probably thinks the same thing about me…. Well, I'll show him._

Picking up another piece of caramel corn, he waited for Bob to look at the screen, then flicked it at him. The caramel corn flew up higher than he wanted, however, and instead smacked Becky in the cheek. He almost wanted to burst out laughing at the bewildered expression she gave him.

"S-Sorry…. That popcorn slipped," he lied, choking back his laughter.

She frowned at him but turned to glare at the T.V. without saying anything. He smirked and focused his attention on the old movie previews flashing across the screen.

A few minutes passed then he felt something hit his glasses. He blinked in surprise and glanced down to see what hit him. It was…a caramel corn?

He raised an eyebrow at Becky. She glanced at him, her eyes gleaming with mischief. "What? I didn't do that." Her coy smile suggested otherwise.

"Becky, you're the one holding the bowl," he pointed out.

"Must've been the wind," she said with a shrug.

"Whatever you say…" he muttered as he picked up a handful of caramel corn. After waiting a few seconds, he tossed a piece at her and exclaimed, "Goodness, did you feel a draft just now? How odd…."

Her feigned pout was betrayed by her giggling. "_Really?_ C'mon, stop." She tossed another piece at him.

His smirk grew. "_You_ stop," he ordered and threw the rest of his handful at her.

"Hey!" she protested. Some pieces stuck to her hair and she brushed them out. "So _that's_ how you want to play it, huh?" she asked, grinning. Becky grabbed a huge handful and chucked it at his face.

This garnered a short laugh from him. He scooped up some popcorn that had fallen into his lap and tossed it at her while dodging another handful she hurled at him.

"Becky Botsford!" her father shouted and the two froze. "Why are you making such a mess?"

She looked over and found her father looked more confused than angry with her. Her face burned with shame all the same. "Sorry, Dad. I'll clean it up."

Tobey scratched the back of his neck, feeling a little bad when she turned back to him with a small frown. He helped her sweep the popcorn back into the bowl without her asking him to, earning him a puzzled yet grateful smile.

Once they finished with that, she handed the bowl to Bob. The monkey's mood considerably brightened as he munched on the caramel corn.

Becky examined her hands with a grimace. "Ugh, my hands are all sticky from the caramel."

Tobey flexed his fingers experimentally. "Mine too…" he mumbled.

Her father looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Want me to pause the movie so you can wash your hands?" he wondered, slowly reaching for the remote.

"Aw, don't do that, Dad! We barely started watching!" T.J. protested.

Tim frowned at his son, but, before he could scold him, Becky stood up and said, "While I don't appreciate the complete disregard for me and Tobey, T.J.— " She looked at him pointedly and he stuck his tongue out at her. "—you can keep the movie playing, Dad. Besides, I've watched this movie so many times, I've pretty much memorized it."

She shuffled past the T.V. so she could get to the bathroom sink and wash her hands, Tobey trailing behind her.

Violet stared after them, her face scrunched up in thought. "They sure are acting amiable with each other…" she whispered, putting a hand to her chin. "I wonder…if they even realize it."

* * *

><p>"Becky, hurry up. My hands are all soapy," Tobey complained as he waited for Becky to finish washing her hands.<p>

She flicked water droplets at his face playfully before backing away from the sink to dry her hands. The disgruntled noise he made as he wiped his face with a sleeve almost made her smirk.

"You know…" Becky began, facing the other way.

His curious silence was a signal for her to continue. "Don't take this the wrong way…but you've been more…tolerable to be around lately."

He snorted at this. "My, what a generous compliment. May I ask what prompted such kindness?" he wondered, his tone coated in sarcasm.

"Well, earlier, when I was, uh…looking for Bob, I ran into two, er, people I knew. They were arguing about who could steal from the museum—I mean, who could get a steal _at _the museum, 'c-cause the curator is selling…museum stuff."

At his bewildered expression, she added, "Anyway, what they were trying to do isn't that important. The point is, when they got in a bind, they worked pretty well together, even if they aren't exactly the best of friends."

He seemed unimpressed by this. "So?"

"_So._" She put a subtle emphasis on the word, clapping her hands together to reign in her exasperation. "I was thinking that we might be the same way. I mean, we've worked well together before."

The boy genius raised an eyebrow. "On what occasion?"

She shrugged. "You know, that time we had to clean up the library."

_Or that time we built that robot to defeat the Coach. Or that time we stopped WordBot_.

He still seemed unconvinced. "One instance of almost amiable interaction. I wouldn't really conclude we work well together from that."

"It wasn't _almost_ amiable. See, _amiable_ means friendly or acting pleasant. Like how the characters in _Pride and Prejudice_ thought Mr. Bingley was _amiable_ because he acted as if everyone at the ball were his friends. Or how, well, _you_ acted amiable when we read _The Little Bug That Went Ka-choo!_ while we cleaned the library."

"It's _Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo!_" Tobey corrected. "And I am nothing like Mr. Bingley."

Much to his surprise, she laughed. He hadn't even meant to be funny.

"No, I wasn't saying that. Besides, you're more like Mr. Darcy, what with that pride of yours."

And there was no doubt Becky was Elizabeth, with her fiery spirit and wit to boot. The passage where Darcy mused about Elizabeth's fine eyes tickled in the back of his mind, and he looked away, attempting to hide a blush.

He would have teased her about being Elizabeth, had he not been so caught off guard by recalling that particular passage. It drew too much attention to what he thought of Becky's eyes, and, in a more honest moment, he might have admitted they were indeed fine.

If she was WordGirl, he might have just blurted this aloud. But, if it turned out he was _wrong_, and he felt something for two different girls, he would do just about anything to destroy whatever it was he was feeling about Becky. Any sort of affection had to be stamped out. He wouldn't have this love triangle nonsense, no sir.

Not to say he even liked Becky in that way. Or any way. At all.

"I meant that we acted…sort of like friends that time. That note you gave me was also an amiable gesture. I still have it, actually."

He glanced back at her, an eyebrow raised. "You kept my letter? But it was just a regular thank-you note."

"You drew a nice picture on it," she complimented. "Besides, you writing a thank-you note to anyone is kind of a big deal. You didn't have to go through all of that trouble."

Tobey spluttered, "I-It's just—I was—I mean—" He cleared his throat, taking that moment to compose himself.

"D-Don't get used to it," he said, finally.

Becky grinned. "Fair enough."

* * *

><p>"Becky! The part with the dragon's coming up!" T.J. screamed at her as soon as the two walked back into the living room.<p>

She straightened up, looking just as ecstatic as her little brother. Zooming over to the couch, she plopped into her seat and stared at the screen expectantly.

Tobey, amused by her excitement, took his seat beside her.

At this point in the movie, Princess Triana was practically dragging Prince Vanlandingham into a cave. While the princess was all afire for exploring, the prince was anything but. He complained about the damp cold, and tried to warn Triana of the possible monsters that might be in the cave with them, but his rationale fell on deaf ears.

The two got into an argument, and Tobey squinted at the screen. There was something about their chemistry that seemed oddly…familiar. That defiant air Princess Triana exuded…and that upright smugness Prince Vanlandingham had about him, how he always had to be _right_….

It was going to drive him mad. He knew he had seen this somewhere before.

Just as he felt he were about to grasp who they reminded him of, a mighty roar resounded from the screen, jolting him back to reality.

The prince and princess had stopped as well and peered deeper in the cave with wide eyes. Princess Triana tightened her grip on the wand in her hand while Prince Vanlandingham had reached for the broadsword at his belt.

Large, booming steps came closer and closer to the two, an ominous roar sounding not far from them.

T.J. stood up and yelled, "_It's the dragon!_"

Becky shushed him, more for Scoops' sake than for anyone else's. This was her favorite part of the movie. No way was her little brother going to ruin it for him.

During the fight scene, she peeked over at him to see if he was awestruck by it as she was the first time she watched it.

Instead, Scoops was scrolling through his phone, looking bored. Her enthusiasm deflated and sunk down to the pit of her stomach like a rock. She slouched in her seat with a pout.

Tobey glanced over at her and asked, "What's the matter? This is the best part!"

Becky sighed. "Scoops isn't even paying any attention. We're only watching this movie so he could get the general idea of what the book is about, but…." They glanced over at the reporter, who remained oblivious to the world around him.

The boy genius cleared his throat but received no response. He tried again, sounding a bit annoyed at being ignored.

Violet looked at him, concerned. "Are you catching a cold, Tobey? I think I have a bag of cough drops in my backpack somewhere," she offered.

He shook his head. "No, thank you. I'm fine. But that blasted reporter isn't watching the movie, and if he expects _us_ to do all the work just because he couldn't bother to focus for a little over two hours, then I'm going to destroy him."

The girls' eyes widened. "Hey, that's a little harsh," Becky said. "You don't need to _destroy_ him."

He frowned. "His phone, at least."

"_No_."

Tobey crossed his arms. "Oh boo. How else are we supposed to get his attention?" he grumbled.

"Like this," Violet said and gently put a hand on Scoops's arm.

The reporter glanced at her. "Hm? Did you need something, Violet?" he wondered, putting his phone on his lap.

She tilted her head and asked, "What were you looking at on your phone?"

"Oh, well, I was thinking that that dragon didn't look CGI, so I looked it up, and it turns out the whole thing was an animatronic! Can you believe that? A _robot_ dragon!" he exclaimed.

"Whoa, that dragon's a _robot_?!" T.J. shouted next to him. "That's so awesome!"

Turning to look at Tobey, he asked, "Hey, Tobey, could _you_ make a robot like that?"

The boy genius seemed startled. No one had ever _asked_ him to make a specific type of robot before. Pride burned in his chest and he smirked. "I most definitely could."

T.J.'s eyes sparkled with excitement. "Then you should do that for your project! That'd be so cool!"

Becky made a face at this. "I doubt Miss Davis is going to give us an A just because we built a robot dragon, even if it would be kinda cool."

"No, we _should_ build a robot dragon," Violet suggested, and everyone stared at her, taken aback. Of all the people in that room to advocate for a robot dragon, Violet seemed the _least_ likely to do so.

"We could do a skit for our presentation," she continued. "Tobey could build the robot dragon, Becky could be Princess Triana, I'll design costumes, and Scoops could be the narrator!"

"You're forgetting about Prince Vanlandingham," Tobey pointed out. "Besides, if we do a skit, we'd all have to be in it."

"Oh yeah…." Violet put a finger to her chin in thought.

"How about _you_ be Prince Vanlandingham, and Violet can voice the dragon?" Becky suggested as she gestured at the both of them.

The blonde's eyes widened. "Me? As the dragon? I don't think I can sound very ferocious, Becky…."

"Not with that attitude," Tobey replied. He was so nonchalant about it, Becky elbowed him.

He added, smoothing down his vest, "Of course, I can probably work in some voice modification program for the robut so you'll sound ferocious no matter what you say."

Looking pointedly at Becky, he grumbled, "Hmph, at least allow me to finish speaking before digging your elbow into my ribs, Botsford."

Violet smiled. "Thank you, Tobey. It's nice to know you can be amiable sometimes."

He made a startled noise, then glanced back at the T.V., scoffing. "…Please. I'm only interested in getting a good grade for myself."

"Uh-huh," Becky said, throwing him a doubtful glance.

His face burned at her comment.

They finished watching the movie soon after, and gathered at the kitchen table. Tobey had taken out a blank blueprint sheet from his backpack and was sketching out the dragon's design, careful to scribble down precise measurements in the margins. His tongue was sticking out a little, though Becky wasn't sure he was even aware of this habit. T.J. hovered over his shoulder, watching the process in wonder while fiddling with the tail of his dragon costume.

Violet worked on sketching a few costume designs for Scoops's Narrator role. It was clear she was struggling to create a design that matched with the movie's style while also incorporating her own flare, but she kept at it.

Becky sat in between the two, occasionally commenting on either Tobey or Violet's designs.

Scoops was trying to look up the movie's script on his phone, but, unable to find it, decided to rewatch the dragon scene again and compare it to the book to see which would make for an easier transcript.

Becky's father had changed out of his King Cedric costume, much to his daughter's relief, and resigned himself to making more snacks for the group. Bob helped. If eating scraps counted as helping.

They hadn't even noticed two hours had gone by until the doorbell rang.

"That must be my mom. I told her to pick me up around this time," Violet said as she packed her things.

"Okay. Great work today, Violet! I liked a lot of the designs you came up with!" Becky complimented.

The blonde smiled. "Thanks. Now I just have to pick one…."

A chorus of "bye"s sounded from everyone as she shut the door behind her.

Scoops's parents arrived soon after, and, after asking Becky to borrow her Princess Triana book to finish up the script, he left too.

"And then there were two," Becky muttered, almost absently.

Tobey didn't look up when he responded, "So it would seem."

"So, if your robot broke down, does that mean your mom is gonna pick you up?" the superheroine wondered, leaning towards him.

"Astounding deduction, Sherlock," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "She is. Although I'm not sure as to when. Her work schedule is very unpredictable on weekdays."

"Can you give me a time frame, at least?"

Giving her a wry smile, he asked, "Trying to get rid of me, Botsford?"

She shook her head. "No, I just wanna know if you'll be joining us for dinner or not."

He was taken aback by this. Blinking away the surprise, he looked down at his work again. "It's possible," he mumbled.

Becky shrugged. "Okay. I'll tell my dad then."

She hadn't walked two steps before he called out, "Wait…."

"Hm?" She glanced back, an eyebrow raised.

"Do you…." He faltered, as if changing his mind. He rubbed the back of his neck with a resigned sigh.

"I don't know if I can construct this robut in two weeks, even if I simplified the movie's design quite a lot," he admitted.

Her eyes widened. "Wha—But—"

"Which is why," he interrupted, "I was wondering…if, perhaps, you would like to…." He mumbled something too low for her to hear.

"I didn't catch that. Like to what?"

He ran a hand down his face. "Ugh, you're making this so difficult." He cleared his throat and repeated, craning his head back to glare at her, "Would you, Becky Botsford, like to help me?"

"Whoa, wait, _me_? You're asking _me _to help?" she asked, incredulously pointing to herself.

Tobey rolled his eyes. "_Yes_. Is there another Becky Botsford in the room?"

"But you were so adamant about handling the robot all on your own earlier."

He scowled, more in disappointment at himself than at her. "That was before I discovered how complicated this project would be. And, seeing as how you are the only member of our group besides myself who has some mechanical knowledge, there isn't really anyone else I could ask."

"Oh…. Uh, sure, okay, I'll help." Thinking of something, she added, "But on one condition."

He deadpanned. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"Cross your heart you won't use it to destroy the city when we're done with our project."

The boy genius raised an eyebrow. "You know, I hadn't actually considered using it for evil purposes, but _now—"_

_"Tobey_."

He heaved a huge sigh. "Oh, alright, I'll disassemble it when we're done with it. Killjoy," he grumbled and traced an 'x' across his chest.

Her shoulders fell a little in relief. "Okay. We'll start tomorrow then."

* * *

><p>Tobey gawked as the Botsford family prepared dinner. Sally Botsford had come home from work not too long ago, but she acted as enthusiastic as ever as she tossed the salad. T.J. and Becky had gotten into several petty arguments while they were rolling meatballs, all of which their parents had shut down with a firm but gentle hand. Tim Botsford did the majority of the cooking, all while singing and dancing to a bunch of show tunes. Bob sat on top of the fridge eating cookies.<p>

All in all, a confusing sight for one Theodore McCallister the Third. How this family managed to be both distracted and efficient was beyond him.

It was sort of…nice, in an odd way.

They invited him to the table and he took a reluctant seat next to Becky. She didn't seem to mind.

"So I heard you two are going to build a robot dragon! That sounds fun!" Sally commented.

"Can I help? I wanna help!" T.J. insisted, his eyes gleaming.

Becky rolled her eyes. "T.J., you can't help. You don't know the first thing about robots or how they function," she pointed out.

Tim Botsford swallowed a mouthful of pasta before scolding, "Becky, you don't need to sound so harsh." He turned to T.J. and explained, "T.J., I know you're excited about the dragon-robot, but this is for Becky and Tobey's school project. Unless they ask for help, they probably don't need it."

T.J. slumped in his seat with a childish pout. "Aw man. But I wanna see the dragon-robot!"

"You can watch us build it, if you want," Tobey offered. "Though, I'm not sure you'll be all that thrilled to see Becky and I—"

"Becky and _me_," the superheroine automatically corrected as she stabbed her fork into her salad.

"Whatever. All we'll be doing is cutting pieces of metal for the first few days. Not all that entertaining, I'm afraid. It won't even look like a dragon until the very end."

T.J. picked at his spaghetti. "Oh…."

"But you can be the first one to ride it once it's finished, if you like," Tobey offered after a sudden twinge of sympathy struck him.

The young boy sat up straight, that excited gleam returning to his eyes. "Really? Awesome! You're so cool, Tobey!"

The boy genius blinked. "Oh, um, yes, well…thank you."

"Geez, you're being so amiable to everyone today. It's kinda weird," Becky said.

"I am not," he denied hastily, his face burning.

"Aw, there's no shame in being amiable, Tobey. Being friendly to others makes them feel good, and it makes you feel good too," Tim advised with a smile.

_But I'm not a good person,_ he wanted to say. The words stuck in his throat. Instead, he settled for humming in response and avoided speaking for the rest of the dinner.

* * *

><p>"Tobey, your mom's running pretty late. Are you sure you don't want us to drop you off at home?" Sally offered, looking concerned.<p>

"Yes, I'm sure. My mother told me she was stuck in traffic, but I don't think she'll be long."

She frowned, still unconvinced. Turning to the stairs, she called out, "Becky!"

"Yeah?" her daughter yelled back.

"Could you get Tobey a blanket from the linen closet?"

The boy genius straightened. "Oh, Mrs. Botsford, that really isn't—"

Becky zoomed down the stairs with the blanket tucked under her arm before he could finish.

Before she could scurry back to her room, however, her mother suggested, "Becky, why don't you keep him company for now?"

"But, Mom, I need to go to sleep!" the superheroine protested.

"Just until your dad is finished getting ready for bed."

She searched her mother's face, but found she was adamant in her decision. Becky held back a sigh. "Alright, fine."

"Okay then. Good night, Tobey! And good night, my little Becky-doodles!" Sally said, ruffling her daughter's hair as she headed upstairs.

Becky flushed when she caught Tobey's amused smirk. "'My little Becky-doodles'?" he repeated.

She handed him the blanket and seemed resigned. "Yeah, I know, it's silly. Go on, laugh if you want."

"It is silly, but not nearly as bad as some of the nicknames my grandmother gives me," he replied, shuddering at the thought. He set the blanket down next to him. While he appreciated the thought, he didn't need it.

"Like…?" she prompted, sitting next to him.

He scoffed, "As if I would tell you. You'd laugh so hard, you'd cry."

"Aw, c'mon, it can't be as bad as 'little Becky-doodles.'"

"You're right. It's worse," he affirmed and blushed at the thought.

She sensed he wasn't going to tell her anything and leaned back with a sigh. "Well, you don't have to tell me that, I guess. But can I ask why you want people to call you 'Tobey'? I mean, your real first name is Theodore, so I would get it if you shortened it to 'Theo' or something, but 'Tobey'? How do you get 'Tobey' from 'Theodore'?"

He laid his head against the back of the couch and stared up at the ceiling. "Tobey is actually my middle name," he admitted, folding his hands on his stomach.

"Wait, it is?" Becky yelled, her eyes wide. "But why do you want to be called by your middle name?"

Shrugging, he replied, "It's not so much my preference as my mother's. She originally wanted to name me Tobey, but my father, Theodore McCallister the Second, wanted to name me after him. So, they compromised. I was to be named Theodore McCallister the Third, but I would be referred to as Tobey, so as not to be confused with my father. I've been called Tobey for as long as I can remember. It feels more like my name than Theodore."

"That makes sense…."

She looked up at the ceiling too, pondering why she felt so at ease around him now. Their arms brushed, just a little, but neither felt inclined to scoot away.

A thin veil of sleep fluttered over her then, and she blinked several times in an attempt to stay alert.

"So…" she began, shifting in her seat.

"Hm?"

She looked at him, unfazed that his face rested mere inches from hers. "This is sort of a personal question, and you don't have to answer, but…where is your dad?"

His eyes, earlier dulled with exhaustion, now burned with some emotion she couldn't place.

He turned away, hiding that fire. After a few moments of silence, he started, "My father—"

The doorbell rang and the two of them jumped. Tobey put a hand to his chest, sucking in a breath.

Tim Botsford ran down the stairs in his pajamas and announced, "I'll get it!"

Tobey stood up and grabbed his backpack. "That must be my mother," he mumbled, avoiding looking at Becky directly.

She put a gentle hand on his arm. "Sorry, Tobey. I shouldn't have asked about your dad."

He curved his hand over hers, taking care to lift it off of him. Curling his fingers under hers, he said, "It's fine. Anyone would be curious, I suppose. Thank you for being so courteous about it, though."

The boy genius slipped his hand out of hers when his mother looked over at them. "Ready to go?" she asked as he strolled over to her.

"Yes, Mother."

"Alright then." Looking at the two Botsfords, she bid them good night and headed for her car.

"Bye! Good night!" Tim called out after her.

Tobey glanced back at Becky and declared with a dramatic flourish, "'Good night, good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, / That I shall say good night till it be morrow.'"

She snorted. "_Good night_, Tobey."

His eyes crinkled when he smiled at her. "Good night, Becky. Mr. Botsford…" he muttered, bowing his head politely before following his mother.

They waved at each other until his mother pulled out of their driveway and cruised down the street.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry for getting here so late, Tobey, but—"<p>

"Yes, I know. Traffic."

Claire waited until she got to a stop sign before speaking again. "Did you have fun?"

A smirk tugged at his mouth before he knew it. Luckily, it was too dark for his mother to see his face properly. "As much fun as I could have at the Botsfords…" he mumbled, trying to brush it off.

"So a lot of fun then," his mother mused, seeing through her son's cool façade.

He could think of nothing to say to that.

Instead, he elected to stare out the window. His thoughts kept wandering back to the Botsford home, and how, as his mother had pointed, he did indeed have fun there.

They were all too nice, almost sickeningly so, and yet….

Their enthusiasm and how they genuinely seemed to care for his well-being…. It made him feel…warm.

He put a hand over his heart and realized he craved more of that foreign warmth. That amiable encouraging Tim Botsford gave him even if he wasn't his father. That odd eagerness Sally Botsford practically exuded. That bright excitement T.J. had whenever he brought up how cool he thought Tobey's robots were.

That honest exhilaration he felt around Becky—

His heart jolted, and he gripped his vest in a tight fist.

_No, no, no. Stop this at once._ His heart only beat faster.

He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. He needed to smother this…this idiocy before he could acknowledge it for what it really was.

Of course, when one tried not to think of something, it was all they thought about. Love was adamant like that.

People liked to say there was a fine line between love and hate. If there really was a thing like that, he was sure there would be more prominent warning signs. Something that screamed, _Hey, you're falling in love, don't you know?_

But there wasn't. It was almost like there was never a clear line to begin with. Or maybe that line was hard to see. All he knew was that there were opposite sides, and he had somehow moved from one side to the other.

Tobey stared out the car window, watching the lampposts drift past him like ghosts.

…It wasn't so bad on this side, he supposed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: King Cedric was a not-so-subtle Sofia the First reference. And he's not even a king, he's the villain who _wants _to be king. I based Tim's costume on Cedric's outfit and color scheme from the show.**

**I didn't even plan for Tobey integrating into the Botsford family moments, but now that I wrote it, it makes me wish there were more moments like this in canon.**

**If you're wondering, Tobey was quoting _Romeo and_ Juliet when he was saying goodbye to Becky.**

**Someone help Tobey. He's fallen and can't get up.**


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